Irina nodded in understanding and said, "Well, that's pretty obviously our choice. But I noticed that you said that our efforts until now weren't wasted. Does that mean there's meaning to what we've been doing?"
"Of course. There is no such thing as meaningless effort, only experiences that can't be used. In this particular case, both of you are lucky since your souls have adapted quite nicely with your bodies. But as I've said from the start, that wasn't enough." Kisuke raised two of his fingers before continuing, "Hence the two choices you have. The first and easy one is to abandon these bodies and return to your previous bodies. Although they are not the original, they should be identical. If you're going to choose this, then you'll have an easier time and could train the conventional way. You'll be left behind for a bit, but it's a sure way to improve and maybe at some point, some sort of evolution on your part."
Akeno prepared herself and asked with a solemn voice, "And for the hard choice?" She knew it's not going to be easy if they go with Kisuke's standard of 'hard'.
"For the hard choice, there are two possibilities. The first one is for your soul to elevate to the same level as your body. However, that's essentially impossible and even if by some miracle you're able to do it, the 'identity' of your own soul may be lost in the process, hence, essentially killing yourselves."
Irina and Akeno shuddered. Far from killing themselves, it's essentially self-destructing in such a way that wouldn't even allow for reincarnation, "If it's like this, why even mention it?" asked Irina.
"Because you'll definitely ask about it after hearing the second one. And it's not like this doesn't have its own advantage. Regardless of whether you lose your rationality or not, when it comes to power, you'll only be second to both Great Red and Ophis."
"Even if we became the strongest existence out there, it's still a hard pass for me if I can't experience it as 'me'."
"Alright. The first one is out of the question. As for the second one, you could probably already guess."
"...Dragging down the level of our bodies to match that of our soul so that we could sync with it better?"
Kisuke nodded, "That's the idea but it's much more complicated than that. In this case, once you've succeeded, you'll certainly become weaker than you are right now, but it really won't take too long before you recover. However, I'll be honest with you. Even though I was able to pinpoint the reason why you can't get stronger and solve it, that doesn't mean the main problem was solved as I don't really know what's going to happen next, so it'll be up to you. Although this is much safer than the first one, the result is uncertain and could possibly have a negative effect, making the choice of you two returning to your former bodies much more appealing. In other words, you'll still be gambling and you'll have to make your choice again."
Akeno and Irina became silent once again.
After a few minutes, resolution first came to Irina and said, "I know that going back to our previous bodies is the safest bet and it isn't like we can't get stronger that way... However, I also knew that I have no talent. I can't control Magic as well as Sona-san, nor could contest with Kuroka-san, Koneko, and even Aika with Ki, be it on control or improvement. As for my speciality, Holy Magic, I can be on par with Akeno but even then, I still fell short due to the special properties of her 'Light'. I tried thinking, but I really have nothing else to offer."
Yoruichi wanted to refute her and say that her talent in swordsmanship is the real deal but she figured this isn't the time yet.
Irina looked straight into Kisuke's eyes as if she's scowling and continued, "If I want to be sure that I won't be left behind, then I'll gladly take the risk. Talent may be one thing, but when it comes to determination, I don't want to lose."
Among the girls, aside from Koneko who had been with her since childhood, Akeno was closest to Irina due to their situation and the timing they entered the group. And the same as her, Akeno was also feeling inferior to everyone, including to Irina herself whenever she saw her strange form of swordsmanship that differed from others.
So when she heard her real feelings, she immediately felt relief, and soon after, guilt, 'I shouldn't be feeling this way... But I can't...'
Shaking her head and clasping her cheeks with her hands, Akeno also decided to be honest with her inferiorities. The least she could do with her is to open up.
Kisuke looked at them carefully and his lips curled upwards. Truthfully speaking, he's still hesitant if he really should help and allow them to do this but seeing their resolve solid enough, he finally let go of the bit of hesitation he's feeling, "Fine. Then listen to me carefully."
The idea behind Kisuke's plan of synchronizing their souls is for their souls to shape their bodies. Depending on the strength of their souls, they would need to strengthen or discard parts of their bodies and in their situation, they would be discarding a lot of it. Once this was achieved, the dissociation of body and soul should largely disappear and the remaining deformations could be solved by living through their everyday lives.
However, what made this dangerous was the fact that their souls were a lot weaker than their current bodies. As they attempt this, their bodies would fight back against the change that they are being subjected to and they could get hurt in the process. And if they couldn't discard enough before their souls tire out, large gaps would appear in their body and soul balance, resulting in not just the death of their bodies, but also the dispersal of their souls due to strain.
After giving them the specific steps, order, and risks for half an hour, Kisuke finished it by asking them again, "This isn't going to be easy and even, by my standards, this is very dangerous as I'm not sure I would be able to save you if something were to go wrong. Are you sure you still want to continue?"
Akeno answered with a small smile, "If we expect you to always come save us, how could we go far? And you've already said it yourself that that is the wrong mindset. We could depend on you, but shouldn't always."
Irina then suddenly stood up, "That's right! And we don't really have time to talk like this. We'll go prepare to increase our chances!"
Yoruichi, on the other hand, out of curiosity asked, "Could you just prepare an artificial body that meets their needs? You should already have enough data on them to do that."
Kisuke shook his head, "I can't do that. If I were to create a body for them, I'd only limit what they could do. I can gather all the information I may need, but I'll never be able to predict someone's potential and growth. The mind, after all, is the greatest mystery of all as it possesses unlimited and infinite possibilities, and with a strong enough will, you can even bend reality."
.
.
.
Kisuke closed his eyes and entered their inner world and what he saw was a scenery similar to the Dimensional Gap, 'So the bodies managed to influence their souls this much... This isn't good.'
Editors:
28th00: Their souls look like the Gap? That’s… really not good. That place is hyper-lethal to everything.
Goyya: It’s just a visual representation since they are being taken over by the beings that were born from that place.
Kisuke didn't know what Irina's and Akeno's inner world exactly look like, however, he can be sure that this isn't it, as it was currently overrun by Ophis' and Great Red's Dragonic Aura, 'Even if it's just their flesh and power, to think it'd have this much of an effect on the soul, I clearly underestimated existences like them.'
In any case, Kisuke had to look for both Irina and Akeno within this space. Although he was worried that he would need a different method to navigate, he felt relief and he immediately found the two of them in the opposite directions. Kisuke immediately brought the two curled up and unconscious souls together and checked their current conditions.
Since they didn't have clothes, Kisuke could see black spots on their skins which seemed to be caused by the erosion from their attempt to shape their bodies. The area of the black spots was expanding as he watched and they should have been ejected from their bodies when they started to appear. However, Yoruichi keeping them in here consumed their very soul, 'They are no longer in any state to continue... But I already agreed to let them continue.'
Taking a deep breath, Kisuke prepared a sphere that was just big enough to envelop the three of them and exert his soul's influence. As the intangible sphere made out from Kisuke's own soul expanded, the rate at which the black spots spread also slowed down significantly. However, doing so wasn't without any consequences as the eroding aura hit him heavily, which normally he could resist easily.
Kisuke thought that it's a good thing that Benihime was still busy with her adaptation and sighed in relief, 'She would have to made a mess to force me to stop this.'
Enduring the pain of forcefully taking over their 'punishment', Kisuke placed his hands on their foreheads to act as a bridge to connect their souls as Yoruichi had requested while recalling Ophis' words once again, 'I wonder if this will be enough of a push?'
The moment contact was established, Kisuke started purifying a part of his own soul to a normal Reishi since he didn't know what would happen if he were to supply it to the girls as it is. However, every time he would take a part of himself and purify it, cracks would appear all over his soul before it immediately recovered to its pristine condition, causing him immense pain on top of the erosion he was already taking care of. Nevertheless, he just gritted his teeth and gave the girls the much-needed energy to at the very least, wake up and do something about their own situation.
A few minutes later, Kisuke efforts finally bore fruit as Irina and Akeno slowly opened their eyes. But as he was about to greet and tease them for a bit, he noticed that there was no focus within their eyes. They were awake, but their consciousness was still not present, 'What's this..? They should at least react a bit, but a complete blank? What's going on?'
Normally, he would be happy with these many unknowns within a day, but with their safety at great risk, he couldn't relish the mystery behind their behavior.
While observing them, a sudden movement suddenly came from both of them as they both tried exiting Kisuke's sphere of influence, seemingly trying to return where they came from. But instead of stopping them, Kisuke hurriedly manipulated his soul to split the sphere and move with them.
Since they are moving in different directions, Kisuke didn't follow them. Even so, he still could monitor them through the sphere around them.
As his curiosity peaked, Irina and Akeno finally resumed their 'discarding'. Still, they still managed to break even more of Kisuke's expectations, 'The entire process became autonomous? How are they doing this?... But more importantly, what they're discarding isn't totally lost but being passed to the other one? How? Is this what Yoruichi instinctively felt when she made a suggestion of connecting their souls?'
Questions flowed through Kisuke's mind and his fascination with what's happening only strengthened. He wanted to only watch and study what was really going on, but he had to dedicate most of his attention to their safety. Nevertheless, this is still a great and rare opportunity to know more about the mysteries of the soul.
After a few more minutes of watching closely, Kisuke figured out a small, but important part of what's going on, 'The 'Angelic' aspect is being transferred and concentrated in Akeno-san and the 'Dragonic' side is going to Irina?'
After thinking about it, Kisuke came up with a guess, 'Is it because Akeno-san was naturally an 'Angel' while Irina was just an artificial one? As for why the 'Dragon' was being invested in Irina... Maybe because the tomboy Irina has always been fascinated by anything Dragon-related when we're kids and is manifesting now? In any case, I can see why this is happening.'
Since Akeno was a descendant of one of the oldest Angels, albeit, a Fallen one, she had more affinity with anything 'Angelic', far more than Irina. Irina, on the other hand, was quite a handful when she was a child, but the Church's education repressed most of those childish feelings and it happened at a very early age too. With her unconscious right now and fully autonomous, her desires and inner self was more open than any other time beforehand.
Although the process was going smoothly for the both of them, the burden on Kisuke's sides was only getting heavier as time went on with the 'discarded' aspects directly landing on him who's acting as the 'bridge' between them.
However, in the outside world, Yoruichi was panicking greatly. Although Kisuke looked peaceful, Irina and Akeno's bodies stayed dead, and now their flesh was falling off before turning into black soot with an unbearable stench.
She really wanted to dive into their inner worlds too, but her hands were already full with just sealing the souls within her body, and even now, she still didn't know if her decision was still the correct one, 'I'll never be able to forgive myself if they were to perish because of my selfish actions... Kisuke... Please... Please don't let them fail...'
Outside of the door, everyone except for Kuroka and Koneko had gathered with Artemis and Hestia pacing back and forth, while the latter kept asking how things were going on her Falna that she had given and the former kept giving the answer that they are 'dead'.
Serafall turned to Medusa and instructed, "Medu-chan, please take Claire and Tanis back to their rooms."
But before Medusa could answer, Claire came running over to Serafall and asked with an almost crying tone, "Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan... Are they going to be alright?"
Hearing that made Artemis and Hestia finally aware of how much they are affecting the children and immediately felt immensely guilty, but they didn't really know what to do in this situation.
Thankfully, Serafall had their back as she knelt down in front of Claire and patted her head, reassuring her with a big smile, "Kisuke-niichan is already there to take care of them so it'll be alright~ You know how amazing Kisuke-niichan is, right? Just rest for now and surely, once you wake up, Irina-neechan and Akeno-neechan will be there to play with you~!"
Serafall's hand was very effective as Claire was able to immediately calm down and nodded, "...I'll be waiting."
Serafall playfully pinched her cheeks before gesturing to Medusa to take them.
As they watched them leave, Sona asked in a lowered voice, "Is it fine to promise them like that? What if they don't come out in time?"
Serafall slowly stood up and answered, "As I've said, Ki-tan is amazing. He can pull this off."
However, this also reminded Serafall of something very important. As she looked at her hands, she thought, 'He's amazing... Way more amazing than me who only knew how to fight and play some mind games. But... despite my few specialties, the burden on me is already immense. How much would it be for someone like him who could virtually do anything? For how long can he keep doing these insane stunts by himself? If there would be a day where he would buckle down, would I or any of us be able to have his back?'
Once again, Serafall realized how powerless she really is.
Editors:
28th00: Serafall experiencing that uselessness that is probably meshing really well(in a very bad way) with some kinda mental trauma like PTSD.
Goyya: I wanted to expand on her back story more since she went through a war. Unless she was born a psychopath, it’s almost impossible for her to have not developed any sort of mental trauma. It’s also highly probable that she lost a few of her friends so even if she managed to stay strong and kept her sanity intact, that should have left a few scars in her heart.
Though it all still planned. Maybe later if I want to deepen her connection to Kisuke.
Redemperor D.