Kisuke wasn't done yet and pulled his hand out from the wall before muttering, "5th Gate: Acceptance."
Kisuke knew that he was outclassed by Chaos in almost all aspects and if he wanted even a little bit of a chance to suppress him, he needed to use everything he could manage, focus it, and hit him where it hurts the most.
Stepping on the wall and pushing against it, Kisuke instantly made a big crater in it and shook the entire structure of the Dungeon as he launched himself toward the headless Chaos.
Kisuke positioned his sword horizontally and swung it with all of his momentum and strength when Chaos came within his reach. The headless man moved his arm to block Kisuke's blade but it did nothing except allow himself to be cut along his torso. The cutting power behind his sword was so strong that it left a deep scar along the walls of the dungeon.
But despite this, Kisuke couldn't be happy as he could see small tentacles emerging from the bisected part and reconnecting themselves. Kisuke reached out his free hand and pointed it towards Chaos, "Hadou no 88, Shin Hiryuu Gekizoku Shinten Raihou (Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunder Cannon)!"
A modified Kidou that truly encompasses the majesty and pride of a Dragon thanks to the experience he got from the real thing. Instead of a normal blue gigantic blast of Spiritual Power and Ki, it took the shape of an Eastern Dragon and was mixed with his own bloody aura giving it a deep red color. The blood 'Dragon' swallowed the bisected Chaos whole and attempted to incinerate him into nothing inside its 'stomach' while also pushing him deep into the Dungeon's wall.
.
.
.
On the outside, the battlefield is only heating up now with Issei, Vali, Crom, and Sairaog in the lead against the more than five thousand Deities that suddenly teleported on the surface. Although they were still weakened, even if only by a bit since Chaos removed the poison that Kisuke had given them and most of them already had the power to fight back.
"Hey... Isn't this a bit too much?" Issei asked while in his Bishop Promotion form and blasting the cannons behind him almost indiscriminately.
Vali kept reducing and absorbing the power of those he touched until the victim Deities couldn't even maintain flight. But before his stunt earlier, even if he could recover his energy, his body was still strained, "...He's not expecting us to deal with all of them by ourselves, right?"
"What's this? You're actually agreeing with Issei? I thought you'd be more like that?" Sairaog turned to them after splitting the head of an enemy and pointed towards a certain direction where a man with blonde and black hair is rampaging gleefully while taking on the attacks of the Deities.
"Even I have my limits," Vali replied, "Well, just let him release his pent-up frustrations. His training has been paying off recently but there was nowhere to vent. I assume he could be classified as the third Heavenly Dragon just from his strength alone."
[I agree.] Ddraig also spoke up, [Seven years is not a long time by Dragon standards, yet he improved tremendously during that time.]
[But that also means the future is that grim. Such pressure to push a powerful Dragon beyond his limits... The Evies won't be an easy opponent.] Albion also added.
'Is that why Dragons have always stood at the very top of the food chain?' Sairaog asked himself after hearing that, 'When there's a stronger species, the Dragons automatically adapt and vie for the top. Or maybe, it's due to the enormous vacuum that Great Red and Ophis left.'
If his guess was correct, then that would explain the sudden explosion of strength among those who are related to Dragons, 'In any case, I can't be left behind!'
Meanwhile, the rest of Team DxD was behind them giving support and long-range attacks as a form of containment. They only have one goal today and that is to keep the enemy Deities from interfering in the most important battle.
.
.
.
Kisuke wanted to continue his assault but he had to stop momentarily to cool down. If not, he'd only be shooting himself in the foot.
As he tried to calm down the turbulent energy within him, Kisuke carefully watched Chaos and saw him effortlessly regenerate everything that he did to him, 'That easy? As expected... I have to anchor his existence somewhere first before I can think of killing him.'
However, Kisuke could also see that Chaos was not left unscathed. Although he looked fine, there's something about him that's a bit weaker from their first encounter, 'Alright... Time to push him to the edge.'
Kisuke pointed his sword forward and his red hagoromo from his Shunkou wrapped around his blade as he muttered, full of killing intent, "...Ban...Kai."
From the five 'eyes' behind him, five mechanical fingers with a blade on their tips slowly emerged. Soon, red, shining outlines drew themselves on these giants and menacing fingers and red strings of energy materialized around Kisuke himself. As his aura exploded multiple times over, he continued, "Kannonbiraki Benihime Aratame..."
Using the power provided by his Shunkou and the path that the Hougyoku left behind before it disappeared, Kisuke unlocked a new form of his Bankai that seems to have fused with him instead of normally materializing.
At the same time, however, Chaos also finished regenerating as if nothing happened to him. Except, he has this incredibly pissed expression and he turned his deep dark eyes to Kisuke. He ignored this new and strange form and with a pissed voice, he uttered softly, "You pest... Die in ignorance."
Kisuke had been stronger than ever, but unfortunately for him, his lack of complete information regarding Chaos finally bit him back... And Chaos bit hard.
He didn't know when, but Kisuke suddenly found himself floating in the darkness where there was nothing. He couldn't tell if he was standing or falling. He couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. He couldn't tell if he was blinded or if it was just the absence of light. He couldn't see his own body and feel his own aura. It's as if his mind alone was transported to a very dark world.
However, he could feel dread and just now, he had a strange feeling that his left flank entirely disappeared despite not having any senses. In all of his life after his reincarnation, death had never been closer.
Editors:
28th00: Death = Powerup though. He’s no Kenpachi though, so this sorta attack is rea lbad.
The strange feeling of parts of his body disappearing didn't leave him and seemed to only worsen with each passing second. Although he was in his Shunkou's fifth gate and released his Bankai, Kisuke couldn't feel any uplifting of power from them like he normally does. He tried communicating with Benihime but his voice only seems to disappear into the void, never to reach its intended recipient.
Kisuke concluded that Chaos isolated his mind. He might be on the verge of death right now but he couldn't tell at all, 'Die in ignorance, huh... How fitting.'
He remembered the position of his body before he entered this void but he didn't know if there was a lapse in his consciousness or Chaos broke his footing so he can't rely on his memories on how to move even if it was a simple act of jumping back in an attempt to escape Chaos' manipulation.
Kisuke knew that Chaos was probably tearing his body apart and if any of his attacks contained his [Gluttony] aspect like what he was doing to Null earlier, he probably wouldn't be able to rely on his natural regeneration either. On top of that, he needs the presence of mind if he wants to control Benihime's abilities.
Even then, he knew that his connection with Benihime was still intact and she was still in her Bankai form. Without any hesitation, he left control of his body entirely to Benihime and hoped that she could keep him alive long enough for him to escape this black hell.
'Now then... I probably only have a few minutes to stay alive or even less, but how do I get out of here?' Even if he wanted to make sense of what was happening around him, he only had his thinking ability with him. Though strangely enough, it seemed he had some familiarity with this darkness, 'I'm sure I've already felt something like this before and it wasn't the [Black Coffin].'
He contemplated it more because he felt that this was the correct and shortest direction. And after a few seconds, he got it, '...I'm one lucky bastard.'
There's one thing that he didn't really think of using and it's something he only got because of an amazingly lucky encounter, 'I'm a successor of a high-ranking Etoulde and this darkness has the same scent as her shadow.'
After confirming that Stralit's mark was still within his mind, Kisuke smiled, 'Just this small mark alone won't be enough... It's a shame she'll get an inkling of what's happening, but I hope she can help me.'
Kisuke activated the Etoulde's mark and even though he couldn't feel anything, he could tell that a very small part of this darkness had become his.
Naturally, that wasn't enough and he reconnected the mark to its original owner to gain more power.
.
.
.
Yoruichi and Serafall positioned themselves to support those who were on the front lines along with others. Yoruichi specifically was tasked to watch out for enemies who were gathering their power and about to release a deadly or dangerous attack. She needed to interrupt them and if there's no choice, go for the kill even if they didn't want a higher body count.
"Isn't this too dangerous?" Serafall came to her side and asked, "Not killing them, I mean."
"Nothing we can do. Deities are the foundation of this world and if we can actually control this person, or at least, grant them assistance in their time of need, it'll be an enormous help. And we still have a lot to learn from them so just think of each of them as books that could potentially tell us how to deal with aliens."
At that moment, the battlefield was briefly silenced when a vast and heavy aura suddenly exploded from the depths of the Dungeon that was very familiar to the people of the otherworld, "Kisuke, huh... Looks like he's about to ramp it up."
But as soon as Yoruichi muttered that, another aura, much more terrifying and heavier blanketed the whole space so that it was actually hard to breathe, including people of Yoruichi's stature.
"W-what is this? Is this Chaos?" Serafall nervously muttered to herself, "...Will he be alright?"
But not even Yoruichi could answer that when Kisuke's aura suddenly disappeared as if a candle flame that was blown out by a storm, "!?" The next instant, indescribable darkness covered the hole leading to the Dungeon.
[Kisuke! Kisuke! What's going on down there!?]
Unfortunately, there's no reply, "Is it blocked!?"
Yoruichi didn't want to but she had no choice but to use a Telepathy Magic that they designed to penetrate any barrier and reach any distance that was based on Le Fay's [Consciousness Targeted Teleportation Magic], [Kisuke! What's happening down there!?]
But the same as before, nothing went through. Yoruichi gritted her teeth and decided to dive into that darkness when Serafall grabbed her, "Yoruichi! No!"
"Release me, Serafall! I have to go!"
"You're not thinking straight!? Don't you see how dangerous that darkness is!? You'll be gone the moment you go in!"
"Then what do we have to do!?" Yoruichi tried prying open Serafall's arms but the latter wouldn't budge.
Serafall gritted her teeth and came to a resolution, "We'll go together!"
Yoruichi stopped and wanted to say that it was too dangerous but Serafall interrupted her, "Let's go! Every second counts!"
Yoruichi sighed and was about to open a rift in space to instantly travel when another voice, albeit very faint, interrupted them, [...I can keep him alive for one minute. Stay still for now.]
"Huh!? Who was that!?" Serafall was surprised as she didn't recognize the voice.
Yoruichi, meanwhile, just muttered, "Benihime..."
.
.
.
Stralit suddenly woke up and hurriedly looked around the dark and dirty cavern. She calmed her nervously beating heart and wiped away the sweat that had formed on her forehead. Sadly, her face only became muddy due to the dirt that had accumulated on her body. She wanted to use Magic to at least clean herself but that would only invite the pursuers that were after her life, 'And I don't really want to waste any of my stamina now.'
It has been a week since she magnificently fell for a trap that was arranged by the enemy Evies, and Etouldes that wanted her removed from the power struggle of her own faction. She thought that she would be safe because an inspector was arriving, but it turned out, this inspector is also part of their deal.
She couldn't request help or contact her brother and family because all communication was blocked. No one was going to rescue her either for some time because the news outside was that she went on an expedition, 'Them manipulating the information going in and out would mean that I can't expect any outside help. It's obvious that they had been planning this from the start, even the direction of my escape in case they couldn't finish me off.'
She thought that it might be her end and regretted that she couldn't see her dear friend before perishing.
Editors:
28th00: Didn’t Kisuke specifically warn Stralit that this was going to happen?
Goyya: He did, but she was still caught. I didn’t make it clear here, but I’m thinking it’s because of her ‘responsibility’. Sadly, I don’t have the time to expand on that and I don’t think it’s necessary for this part.