Chapter 1064 Saved by the Shadow
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.
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