In a random empty asteroid in a distant star system, Yoruichi was sleeping in a small place that she made habitable. The moment her terminal rang, she instantly opened her eyes and checked it, "She contacted me way sooner than I expected... I just tossed out a bit of bait yet they're inviting me this early? Is it a trap or are they just this desperate?"
She knew that Kisuke was a 'successor' of Stralit Luxeux and that a strange relationship had connected the two of them. Also thanks to Seraselbes, she was able to easily gather information about her and even managed to solicit her help to stop the Evies from fully puncturing the Draconic Deus' barrier.
'Though because of that, she received a disciplinary action.' Yoruichi thought to herself before thinking back to the day the Luxeux Matriarch's aide suddenly asked for Benihime's information, 'Stralit's disappearance coincides with the strange incident in their home world. And now they're asking about Benihime? I was just shooting in the dark, but it really turned out that her disappearance had something to do with Benihime.'
She wanted to ask Kisuke about it, but she couldn't really contact anyone in the Draconic Deus this far out. Furthermore, Kisuke didn't warn her about this so it's either he doesn't have any idea that this happened or he can't relay this information to anyone.
Yoruichi stood up and stretched her limbs, "Either way, I'll finally get some clue on the bastard who hurt Koneko-chan." She then replied to the message she received and warned them not to do anything funny if they wanted a smooth trade.
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Yoruichi arrived at a designated point within the home planet of the Luxeux Clan, Lux, a planet covered with golden shimmer. But instead of her real appearance, Yoruichi arrived with her Pamatypian disguise, dull white hair, rough gray skin, and slightly altered face while wearing a standard skin-tight combat outfit.
"Welcome, miss Yoru." In front of her is Adrenna wearing a similar combat outfit as Yoruichi.
"Miss Enna. It has been a while." Yoruichi greeted her back with a smile, "And I certainly didn't expect you to call me this soon. Is it alright for me to assume that your master agreed to my condition?"
"You may call me Adrenna here and yes, my mistress agreed to your condition." Adrenna replied while narrowing her eyes, "But before that, may I ask why you wanted to see the sword?"
Yoruichi smiled fearlessly, "Will answering that change how you treat me?"
Adrenna was silent for a short moment before saying, "...Please follow me." She turned around and started walking away. What they need right now is more information about the sword, 'I can't risk being hostile with her now... But if she tries to take young lady Stralit as hostage...'
Although Adrenna managed to calm herself in time, Yoruichi still noticed the slight bloodlust that momentarily leaked out from her, 'Looks like the situation on their side is not that good.' She followed her while being mindful of her surroundings and prepared the escape capsule that Seraselbes gave her.
It might reveal her affiliation with the Evies, but it's a lot better than dying or being trapped.
They were walking for a few minutes and Yoruichi thought that they'd be going at this pace for a few hours when all of a sudden, Adrenna who was in front of her suddenly disappeared, melding into an invisible wall, "!?"
Yoruichi stopped and looked around. Even after knowing the existence of the barrier, she still couldn't sense it, 'What's this? How come I can't feel anything?' She was very tempted to take out her equipment to take a closer look at her surroundings but ultimately decided against it and walked forward.
As soon as she hit the barrier, her surroundings instantly changed and she was now within a pitch-black environment that further confused her senses.
Yoruichi was glad that there was no hostile intent but she further put up her guard.
"Please walk forward and do not deviate anywhere. This is our security measure." Yoruichi heard Adrenna's voice but she couldn't point out where it was coming from or how far she was.
Yoruichi hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward. Five minutes into the well-paced movement, her surroundings cleared up and the darkness receded behind her. When she turned around, she saw a pitch-black hallway and she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to exit this place by retracing her steps.
"My safety is now in your hands, huh..." Yoruichi muttered while turning back to Adrenna who was waiting in front of a big metallic door.
It wasn't just Adrenna but also Corvina who was waiting on the other side, watching the former guide and their guest, was surprised.
"...You can read the flow of Spiritual Power? Are you perhaps a successor of one of the sensory-type clans?" Even though Adrenna asked, she already knew the answers. It's obvious that she could read the flow of Spiritual Power or else, she won't be able to tell that she won't be able to come out the same way they came in. As for the latter question, it's a no because there's no indication that she's a 'successor'.
As someone working for the Luxeux Matriarch, she was taught how to differentiate all the successors from other Etouldes.
Yoruichi smiled but didn't give an answer.
Adrenna sighed and opened the door. Since it's not a big room, it was immediately revealed to Yoruichi what's happening. She ignored the veiled person and muttered out loud, "That looks pretty bad."
"Bad? What do you mean?" Adrenna hurriedly asked but Yoruichi ignored her and walked towards the unconscious Stralit and the mannequin.
Adrenna tried to stop her but Corvina gestured for her to stand down.
Yoruichi took her steps until she was at the same distance as when Corvina was about to get affected by the cuts and stitches. She stared at Stralit for a moment before turning towards the veiled woman and asked, "What happened here? If possible, I'd like to know every single detail to give this girl a better chance to live."
Adrenna looked into Corvina's eyes and the latter just nodded her head. The former then approached Yoruichi with her terminal and showed her the only surviving record of the scene of the court that day.
The whole video isn't even a minute long but it was shocking nonetheless.
Yoruichi contemplated for a bit before turning towards the mannequin and speaking in Japanese, "How long can the girl last?"
Corvina and Adrenna were surprised but thankfully, they already installed several languages that originated from Draconic Deus to their auto translator in anticipation that they'd have to talk to one of its natives.
The surprise, however, didn't end there as the mannequin they thought couldn't reply, responded back, "Around a week before her Spiritual Power is completely depleted."
"Will she be alright by then?"
"I'm hoping that she will, but I don't really like working on such a tight margin."
"Give me a number here."
"One out of a hundred. I overestimated her adaptability."
Yoruichi clicked her tongue, "That's not just a tight margin..." She muttered until she found something strange in Benihime's words, "Wait, adaptability? You're not expelling it?"
"Thanks to my and Kisuke's utilization of her [Shadow], Ichibei's power has been tightly woven into her soul which is the source of her ability, so much that it became impossible to separate the two."
'What the hell are these two doing?' Yoruichi was speechless. She has so many questions like how Ichibei reached this place and how Stralit used his [Naming] ability. However, this isn't the time for that right now, "What do you need?"
"The White Bone Hell if possible, but the hot spring in Kisuke's hideout would suffice. If I can get away from removing impurities from her, I would be able to focus on adjustments."
Yoruichi started rubbing her chin and muttered under her breath, "White Bone Hell, huh... Even with obfuscators, it would be suicidal to transport that through Etoulde territories."
"I will allow you to use my secret channel to bring whatever you need."
Yoruichi was pulled out of her thinking and turned to the source of the voice, the veiled woman.
"I can guarantee your secrecy and security."
Editors:
28th00: They have no idea how screwed they are, do they? Or well, the girl is at least. That’s some absurdly specific and dangerous materials they’d need. Good thing White Bone Hell was just remade I guess?
Goyya: I mean there are only a few things that could purify souls that Benihime knew. That’s was she was opting for the hot spring that Kisuke made in the beginning chapters of the series since that’s the next best thing in her opinion.
Yoruichi was having a headache. She didn't know if this was for better or for worse. However, she did realize Stralit's immense importance to her mother, 'Now that it came to this, might as well go all the way. Thankfully, I can be sure that this young lady would be on our side.'
Yoruichi sighed and turned around again and while doing so, she removed the seal on her Reiatsu.
"!?" "W-what!?" Corvina and Adrenna both took a step back from the sudden pressure that directly weighed down on their souls, "What's happening!?" The latter further exclaimed while the former made sure that this room didn't allow any leakage.
Out of nowhere, Yoruichi took out nine daggers and stuck them on the floor around Stralit. The handle of the daggers then lit up with a soft blue light before they formed a nonagonal barrier around her target, "This can serve as your battery for now. How long can this extend your active time?"
"Four more days. Don't you have more?", replied Benihime.
To that, Yoruichi could only scratch her head, "I bothered Kisuke to make these for me and it was originally created to amplify a single attack. These things aren't just disposable but you also can't normally use them repeatedly since it'll kill you first before you could go for the second attack."
She then turned around again and started walking away, "I'll go get what you need so hang tight." And within a few steps, she soon came face to face with Corvina and went back to speaking her language, "I apologize for ignoring you earlier, Lady Corvina. Let me formally introduce myself."
Yoruichi gestured the formal greeting for Etouldes by putting her left arm horizontally across her stomach. At the same time, her gray hair slowly turned black and her skin returned to the normal dark tone. As her face warped back to her original one, she continued, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Yoruichi Shihouin."
Corvina stared at her for a moment before parting back her veil to the side, revealing her pure pitch-black eyes that seemed to absorb even the brightest light, and returned the formal gesture, "A pleasure to know you too, Yoruichi Shihouin. I'm Corvina Luxeux, the current head of the Luxeux clan."
Any normal person who stares at her eyes would momentarily lose their sanity, however, Yoruichi just smiled and went at ease without breaking eye contact, "Please let me say this first. I and those behind me don't have any intention of becoming your enemy."
"Your words don't hold any weight.", Corvina replied without her expression changing.
Yoruichi, meanwhile, was neither disappointed nor offended, "That's very clear to me so I'd like to work towards adding that weight. For starters, please let me take care of your daughter. I'll make sure she'll wake up healthy and with an added bonus too."
Corvina obviously doesn't trust Yoruichi fully. Nonetheless, there are no other alternatives, "What can I do for you?" Corvina asked because she couldn't possibly be doing this out of the goodness of her heart and maybe her answer would shed some light to her relationship with her daughter.
"Nothing major. I just want you to take a look at something. And if possible, I'd like to know its owner."
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It has been half an hour since Yoruichi left and Corvina has been staring at the vial containing a strand of hair made out of Spiritual Power and deeply within her thoughts.
A few minutes later, her trusted aide, Adrenna returned, "I'm back milady. I'm sorry but our scouts lost her as soon as she arrived in Hartagertle."
Corvina placed the vial on the nearby table and asked, "What do you think of her?"
"When she introduced herself as Yoruichi Shihouin, I think she was telling the truth. Because only then does it all make sense."
Corvina stood up and approached the barrier surrounding Stralit and the mannequin known as Benihime, "I'm not asking about that. I'm talking about her spiritual ability."
Adrenna is fully aware that her mistress has way better insight regarding spiritual abilities than her so she shouldn't even be asking that question to her. But since Corvina did, she was not hallucinating when Yoruichi erected the barrier earlier.
"First of all, those daggers already violated the Etoulde's [Sacred Soul Act]. It's a technology we don't have and are not allowed to develop. If those strict old men find this out, they'll hunt her until the ends of the universe.
"Second, the way she uses Spiritual Power by releasing it in a pressurized form and shaping it through her will is radically different from any Etoulde who uses their spiritual ability by shaping their power within their souls first and releasing it to the world. I tried doing it myself but my body was almost injured by an incomplete attempt. If I released it to the same degree as her, I would, undoubtedly, instantly die."
"It's an archaic way of utilizing Spiritual Power and its efficiency is extremely bad," Corvina added.
"That is also what I was thinking. It wasn't just dangerous but also very draining. I can't understand why she'd opt for that method even though she's successful. She must already have an idea on how the Etoulde uses theirs and be capable of imitating a portion of it." Adrenna continued, 'After all, as long as you can feel and manipulate Spiritual Power to a certain degree, you could easily learn how to use it from public knowledge among the Etouldes.'
Corvina didn't say anything else.
Adrenna was correct to think that Corvina has better insight than her because if not, she'd also be as nervous as Corvina is now, 'Its efficiency is bad, yes... But that method of releasing a pressurized Spiritual Power might just be a method of extending one's soul domain. And when one can extend their domain outside of their body... ridiculous [Ideas] could be realized now that the vessel is not a limitation any more.'
Although these utilizations are vastly different, the majority of people who'd come across this won't even notice the difference thanks to their not-so-accurate senses and lacking experience. Even then, Corvina couldn't help but sigh in frustration. If she's guessing it right, the man who saved Stralit from Aurelius was the owner of Benihime, Kisuke Urahara.
'I know it's not easy to notice but to think that even Grenlan would miss this? Or is he just keeping it a secret for Stralit? Then what about Alicia? Chances are they didn't really notice and thought of it as a strange pressuring ability.'
Corvina walked back and instructed Adrenna, "Take the vial and find its owner. Be careful. The Enfers are moving suspiciously these days. Just focus on looking for its owner and don't even try digging into what they are doing. And call Grenlan back while you're at it."
"What about Yoruichi?"
"She's too dangerous so I'll be taking care of her personally."
Editors:
28th00: I hope that’s “I’ll handle deals with her personally since they’re so dangerous and important.” and not “I’ll handle her, personally.” like a really bad Xianxia traitor. Which considering they’re based on Xianxia clan fuckery, is disturbingly possible. The one who hurt Koneko-chan is gonna die a painful death.