Yoruichi closely examined Kisuke and figured out that he was having a conversation with his Zanpakuto. Having recalled his relationship with Benihime, she asked "Should I set up a barrier?"
Kisuke shook his head, "Don't worry. It won't come to that. Not now."
Yoruichi sighed in relief and remained silent. As far as she knows, the only Zanpakuto that is as sadistic as Benihime was Shunsui's Katen Kyoukotsu, which was already famed for always putting its owner at the same risk as his enemy.
'So why didn't you continue?' Kisuke asked Benihime.
'Because you are not yet ready.', Benihime answered briefly, 'As much as I want for both of us to attain a higher level, you need to have an actual chance to proceed. After all, the power we're talking about is something beyond Bankai. And you also know that for me to achieve that, I have to advance beyond the limits of my origin and existence.'
'The constraints of a 'name', huh...'
After moving out of the disrupted zone of the battle, Kisuke began setting up the teleportation magic that would take them back to the Dizara Region, "By the way, how's Medusa?", he asked while preparing.
Yoruichi thought about the scene she had seen for a few moments before Aika contacted her, "It looks like it'll take some time."
"It's not going well?"
"When has something like that ever gone well?"
"So the situation is bad enough for you to say something like that. Need help?"
Yoruichi shook her head, "Your help would be immensely useful right now, but it would be detrimental in the future. And yeah, the situation is bad enough that the older sisters are accumulating hate towards you with each passing day, so it would be better not to show your face to them until this is over... Not that you'd care even if they hated you to the bone."
Kisuke was in silent agreement.
"Either way, it's good that you've changed your plans since I want to watch over them myself. And although things are quiet right now, I have a feeling that something dangerous is developing beyond our surveillance."
Connecting the coordinates, the two teleported and reappeared near the city of Pandemonium and started walking towards it, "Is it about the Aruna Familia?" asked Kisuke.
Yoruichi nodded, "Yeah... They are strong, but only within this world's common sense so there should be nothing of concern about them even though their current quiet behavior was not like them and attracting a lot of attention from others. However, there's this nagging feeling that it isn't as simple as it seems, so I tried investigating their God, Aruna. But surprisingly, I can't get close without being detected."
Kisuke's eyes widened in surprise, "He can detect you?"
Yoruichi nodded once again, "That's right. Though I don't exactly know how he's doing it, I'm certain that I would only be revealing myself if I stay around him for a certain period of time even with Kuroka's help. And thanks to that failed attempt, even though they have no way of identifying us, they became even more careful and quiet."
Kisuke was about to say something but Yoruichi interrupted him, "I know what you want to say. Kidnap and extract information from one of them, right?"
Kisuke became silent as that's indeed an option they can explore.
Sighing, Yoruichi continued, "I wouldn't blame you for your excessiveness since I know what you went through. Nevertheless, we can be cold but never cruel. Kidnapping one of them because of some simple suspicion is still cruel in my book. And you do know that the chances of getting any actual information from one of his children are nil since we've learned how a Deity could easily fool a child."
"...That's true... But I still think bringing in one of them is a reasonable method. I'm sorry that I can't change this."
All of a sudden, Yoruichi gave Kisuke a loud slap on his back. Although it only tickled him, Kisuke couldn't help but give her a puzzled look to which Yoruichi replied, "You did nothing wrong, so don't apologize. Our differing opinions are not your fault because none of us truly knows the correct answer in every situation. And most importantly, you don't have to change, not forcefully anyway as that should come naturally and I'll welcome it. But if I do think that you're straying too much, I'll be the first one who's going to drag you back."
Kisuke smiled and looked forward, "Then I'll do the same. If I think you're straying, I'll be the first one to drag you."
At that point, Yoruichi started chuckling.
"What now? There's nothing funny with what I just said."
"No... I'm just glad that the girls are with us. So even if both of us strayed apart, it'll be up to them to do what they think is right. In hindsight, each one of us is compensating for each other in what we lack, especially to the two of us who lack the normality of life."
They arrived at the gates of the city and Yoruichi added, "In any case, leave this to us and just focus on what you want to do on the other side. You don't have to worry since contact is now possible."
Kisuke then produced a terminal and passed it to Yoruichi, "Here is the list of barriers and formations I've placed on Pandemonium, Orario, and the tower. I've categorized and tagged them so it'll be easy for you to look for what you need. Just use the search bar at the top."
Yoruichi received the terminal and turned it on. But the moment her eyes landed on a certain metric on the board, a minor headache came rushing in, "9,936 entries? This is beyond overdoing it."
"I wasn't joking when I said you can search for whatever you may need. Though a third of that was for sealing the Dungeon from outside interference and influence from Divine Power or Soul Power. If it's outside the Dungeon, you can go all out."
Editors:
28th00: Not even 10,000? Is Kisuke slacking off there!? But seriously, that’s so many barriers it probably has one for keeping Tea at the right temperature in there somewhere!
Goyya: Well, that doesn’t account for all variations and could have multiple items in a single entry.
peter onwuasoanya
"...If there's this much, there shouldn't be any big problems even if a God or two suddenly goes rogue and unleashes their Divinity." Yoruichi took one final peek before keeping the terminal within her inventory, 'Since most of these are Magic-based and Ki-based, I'll pass this to Serafall, Kuroka, and Medusa too for good measure.'
"So are you going to leave now?" Yoruichi asked.
"Yeah. After saying my goodbyes. Aika's preparations should be done too, though she won't really be using any of those when we go back."
Yoruichi looked him in the eyes and asked, "I had my suspicions, but are you planning to leave her there?"
Kisuke became silent for a few moments before answering, "That was supposed to be the plan and only take her back once she's ready and becomes more experienced with how the supernatural world works."
"Then what changed?"
"...I thought I should trust her a little more. I'm going to seal her abilities and senses and send her back to the secular world. Whether she truly wanted to continue this arduous and unforgiving journey or not, it'll be up to her."
Yoruichi also became silent and sighed. As they walked through the road she muttered, "Even I don't know what should be done so I don't really have an opinion about it. It's just that it's really surprising how we are treating her so differently compared to when we dragged Inoue and Sado to a war that they shouldn't have been part of in the first place."
.
.
.
At the top of the tower that Kisuke built, except for Medusa and Yoruichi who were busy with something, and Akeno and Irina, that could hardly stay awake for a few minutes each day since their souls haven't fully adapted to the changes within their bodies, everyone else had gathered to see Kisuke and Aika off.
While Kisuke was wearing his usual attire, Kisuke asked Aika to wear her school uniform and the latter didn't question it.
"Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama, please take care of things here for me."
Hestia pouted her mouth at her ever-so-busy child that he couldn't even make some time for her, "I'd do just that even if you didn't tell me."
Artemis, on the other hand, could only smile wryly, "Just promise us that you'll contact us every now and then."
"I promise."
Kisuke and Aika then proceeded to say their farewells to the rest of the crew. Sona wanted to boldly kiss Kisuke in front of everyone, but her sister's burning stare ultimately discouraged her from doing so.
After giving his reminders to the 'child' group since they were tasked in taking care of Akeno and Irina, Kisuke returned to Hestia and Artemis, "Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama. I would like to request the two of you to meet and mingle with the other Gods of the region, especially those who are sitting at the top of the power hierarchy."
"Why?" Hestia asked, because all this time, aside from Astarte and Astraea, they refused to meet other Gods because there's no real benefits in doing so. In fact, they'd only be putting themselves in danger because they knew how much worse the power struggle within this region was compared to that of Orario's. Despite the alliance looking good, it was striped with inner conflicts that each and every day, there would be small-scale conflicts within the shadow of Pandemonium.
"I want you to keep an eye on them and tell Yoruichi or Serafall your impression of them."
"You want us to gather information among the circles of Gods?" asked Artemis.
But Kisuke shook his head, "No. That would be too dangerous. I just want you to interact with them normally and just keep an eye out on their behavior without eliciting their suspicions."
"Since you're asking us this, there must be something weird going on. Shouldn't we actively gather information despite the danger?"
"No. Actual information gathering would be handled by Kuroka and Yoruichi. I just want you to give them your impressions of each notable God, because that's what they needed the most to make sense of the situation."
"That's easy! Leave it to us!" Hestia proudly proclaimed while striking her chest, "There will be a banquet hosted by Lugh three days from now on. We intended to ignore the invitation as usual but I guess this will be a good opportunity."
"That's great. With that said, always bring Serafall and Sona with you. If children are not allowed to follow you, Kuroka and Koneko will hide within your shadows as your guards. I won't allow any compromises on this."
It was a quarter of an hour later before Kisuke could finish his reminders to others that Aika couldn't help but comment, "Are you a mother!?"
With a final wave, Kisuke and Aika disappeared from the tower and arrived in the desert that became Serafall and Sona's venue for their training. Ensuring that his 'anchor' was functioning properly, Kisuke opened a rift in space using his cane, "Hold my hand tightly and never let go."
Aika did as Kisuke instructed and the both of them jumped into the void.
Editors:
28th00: Aika is pretty damn stubborn, being a dragon(Ophis approved even!) and all, so I highly doubt she’ll let Kisuke get away, chosen mate and all. Side note, Ophis has no more Mr. Hat to keep an eye on her! She’s got damn near FREE REIGN RIGHT NOW! This was the omen of many more towers popping up everywhere and anywhere in this poor world.
Goyya: Well, Aika was technically tortured to accept her reality and Mr. Hat here didn’t even consider that in the past. The subtle changes in his viewpoints are also biting his ass.
También te puede interesar
Comentario de párrafo
¡La función de comentarios de párrafo ya está en la Web! Mueva el mouse sobre cualquier párrafo y haga clic en el icono para agregar su comentario.
Además, siempre puedes desactivarlo en Ajustes.
ENTIENDO