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.
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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..."
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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.
'By the way, what woke me up? There's nothing here...?' Stralit thought to herself.
As Stralit looked around, her eyes landed on the only thing she was able to bring with her, a capsule that contained her sleeping successor, John Smith. Because the traces of her power were on him, if she had left him alone, they would have surely killed him, 'Is he finally waking up?' She thought to herself after feeling the tiny but strange aura on him, 'I never understood what kind of being he was until the very end.'
Since no one knew that John Smith was her successor, she'd be able to use herself to bait the enemies while he escapes, 'He, at least, should get out of here alive and he'll be able to make contact with Seraselbes. Take revenge for me, little guy.'
'Although I won't be able to see it myself, the last laugh would be mine. Did you think that you were the only one who could cooperate with an Evie? Unfortunately for you, my friend there would be able to destroy your whole clan. Forget about the power struggle, none of those who share the same blood as you will be able to keep their legacy. Ah, I should also include that damned inspector. I'll ask him to annihilate your whole clan, innocent or not.' With a wicked smile on her face, Stralit opened the capsule but soon enough, her smile froze.
'What's this?' she asked herself while picking up John Smith. She could see the mark on her forehead flashing, signifying that he was using her innate ability, 'But where? And how?'
She looked around and inspected John Smith more but couldn't find how he was using it. But because she opened the capsule, the aura of her ability escaped and it'll only be a matter of time before her enemies descend into this hidden cavern.
"Tsk." Stralit placed John Smith back into the capsule before running deeper into the cavern that looks like the mouth of an abyss when she heard some activity not far from her, 'They were this close!?'
She was actually fortunate that John Smith's aura of her ability escaped at that time or she might have been caught off guard, 'They even have the stealth of this level... Only one other clan has this kind of ability. They're in on it too?'
Stralit took random branching paths into the darkness while erasing her tracks and adding some decoy. Though while running, she could feel the aura from John Smith strengthening to the point that the capsule couldn't contain it anymore.
Stralit ran faster, ignoring where she was going. She only wanted to get away faster. But during this, there was a strange feeling that's coming from the capsule, 'As if he's reaching out to me... What's happening?' And the further she went, the stronger the feeling was.
Stralit gritted her teeth and measured an appropriate distance before opening the capsule again and touching the mark on John Smith's forehead, 'Screw it... Please wake up after this.'
Immediately after, her consciousness was transported to a very dark place.
'This is... Where?' Stralit found herself within a very uncomfortable darkness. Since her innate ability pertains to 'Shadow', she has always felt safe within its domain, 'Unless it's from a hostile enemy that's at least on the same level as me or stronger... But how did I come here? Was my consciousness forcefully pulled?'
It didn't take too long for her to find who called her here as there was a very small patch of 'comfortable' darkness that caught her attention after looking around. In the middle of that 'comfortable' darkness was a small light, about to be snuffed out, however, it had a very familiar aura, 'John?'
Stralit hurriedly approached it while analyzing the situation, 'This darkness is trying to devour him. At this rate, he'll disappear.'
What would happen if the light disappeared? Stralit doesn't have any idea since this was the first time she encountered something like this. Although she recalled reading something similar from her clan's library, it was in her younger years when she was forced to study and really hated reading. '...Oh young me... You're still putting me on the spot to this very day... Though I at least remember that I have to do something in this situation. But if I were to do that...'
If she were to release her power now, it would be akin to attaching a very loud siren to the top of her head and she wouldn't be able to stop it until she was done. On top of that, she doesn't know how much of her reserve will be used and there's a possibility that she'll be completely depleted and tired after assisting him, which made it close to fatal for her due to her current situation.
'But it's not like I can escape... Sooner or later, I'll be trapped so I'll just be delaying my death.' Stralit reached out her hands and embraced the small light that was about to flicker out of existence, 'If I could do a good thing before my end, that wouldn't be so bad, I guess? Besides, I took him in and he's technically my responsibility.'
The moment she further connected her consciousness to the light, a new space was revealed to her that was still in the darkness. However, she was stunned to see an unknown unconscious man with missing body parts that looked like someone or something had taken a bite out of him. A quarter of his head is missing but Stralit managed to recognize him, "J-John?"
The man was John Smith if he was as tall as her.
Nevertheless, she didn't have any time to think about this as more and more of his body is being 'eaten' and it wouldn't take long before he disappears entirely, 'I don't have enough power to repel these unknown beasts, but I should have enough to take him out of this place. And he's not entirely unconscious since he's fighting back. I just have to support where he wants to go.'
Stralit didn't hesitate any more and released her innate ability. While her short white hair and bright green eyes turned jet black, her own darkness painted the darkness around 'John Smith' and pushed back the 'beasts' eating him. And as soon as their 'shadows' met, a resonance occurred and made their minds connect to a deeper level, allowing understanding between the two instinctively.
'That way? Got it.' Stralit grabbed 'John' and flew to a certain direction where he wanted to go and shaped her shadow into a drill that shredded the darkness in their way. A minute later, Stralit found the boundary and understood what she needed to do, 'In the end, I would need to go all out... I have a lot of questions, but it was an interesting experience.'
Gathering her power, Stralit gritted her teeth and punched a hole through the 'uncomfortable' darkness with all her might before throwing 'John' beyond it. Tired, her body slowly disappeared into her own darkness as her consciousness returned back to her body where she'll have to do her best to survive while waiting for 'John' to wake up.
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[...ke! ...suke! Kisuke!!! Answer me!]
Kisuke opened his eyes and was greeted by the bright light of the sun while also being rattled by frantic voices that were ringing inside his head, '...I got out?'
[...Finally awake?] Kisuke heard Benihime's voice.
"...Yeah."
[Then reply to that girl or she might just rush into her death.]
As soon as Benihime said that, another set of shaking voices rang inside Kisuke's head, [Kisuke! Answer me! Are you alive!?]
[...Yeah. I'm alive. Thankfully.], Kisuke replied to Yoruichi.
[...You finally answered.] Kisuke could tell the relief from her tone, [But are you really alive in that state?]
Kisuke was momentarily confused by her question until he checked his own body. About three-quarters of his body is gone and was replaced by Benihime's red strings bundled together to keep him intact, [Let me remind you that the moment you exit out of Bankai, you'll die.]
Kisuke confirmed that his Shunko and Bankai were still active and that he's currently floating on top of the former Orario. He could see the ongoing battle from a distance and it seemed that they were pushed back because Chaos just unleashed a terrible ability that almost instantly killed him, "I'm lucky to have survived that, huh?"
While Kisuke was gathering his thoughts, the darkness filling the Dungeon shook before converging into a form that he was more familiar with. When Kisuke saw him, despite only having half of his head, he smiled, "Looks like that wasn't that easy for you either, huh?"
Chaos couldn't reply and was instead incredibly surprised that he was able to escape and that he was actually alive at all.
Editors:
28th00