Chapter 1134 Impending Battle
"...E-envoy of Hell?" Inoue muttered with nervousness.
But instead of replying to her, Serafall crouched down in front of Kazui, "Kazui-chan, my name is Serafall but you can call me Sera-neechan. Nice to meet you."
"...Sera-neechan."
Serafall nodded in satisfaction and continued, "If you don't mind Nee-chan asking, when were you able to send Souls to Hell, and how?"
Kazui thought about it for a moment before answering with a soft, unsure voice, "...I don't know... I don't remember. It's just that one day, a door appeared in front of me with Skeleton-san on it. We talked for a bit and after that, I'm able to send people..."
"Hmm~ That's great. What did you talk about?"
A longer silence came from Kazui before he answered with even more uncertainty in his voice, "...I... I don't know. I don't remember..."
Seeing his struggle, Serafall immediately patted his head, "That's alright. You don't have to remember it. At least you had fun talking to him, did you?"
Kazui finally smiled and nodded energetically, "Mmm!" Although he doesn't remember anything, the lingering feeling of their conversation stayed with him and he always wanted to talk to him again.
"That's wonderful~" Serafall also returned a smile, "It's getting late so you should go to bed. You don't have to think about this anymore since we adults are going to take care of it." She then gave Inoue a glance.
Inoue immediately understood what she was trying to say and also crouched down in front of Kazui, "That's right, Kazui. We're sorry for putting you on the spot like that. Your father and his friends will take care of the rest."
Kazui immediately ran to his mother's embrace as an expression of relief came to her face.
Ichigo, Chad, Uryu, and Renji saw it clearly and made them realize that they made a mistake.
After hugging her son tightly, Inoue brought Kazui back to his room with Kon, leaving behind the adults to talk among themselves.
"...I apologize that you had to see something like that... And thank you." Ichigo lowered his head, "I almost did something unsightly as a father."
Serafall stood up and said, "As long as you understand and never forget that he's still just a kid. No matter how strange his actions are, it's perfectly normal that he himself doesn't know anything about it."
She then turned to Renji who was tapping away on his smartphone. She also noticed that he's recording what she's saying when she's talking about the [Chained] and [Unchained] but didn't say anything about it, "Reporting?"
Renji didn't say anything for a few seconds and continued with what he was doing. After he was done, he smiled nervously, "I'm sorry, but this has to be done."
"I'm not blaming you. It's your duty so I won't say anything about it. I'm just making sure that's what you're doing."
With her work done here, Serafall intended to leave, "Well then, I won't extend my sudden visit any further. Let's talk more in detail on another occasion."
But just as she just finished speaking, a heavy atmosphere suddenly pressed on everyone. Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, and Renji, even though they don't know what's going on, they still felt an enormous threat. At the same time, the scanning device on Renji's hand started beeping in an even more alarming way than when Serafall arrived, signifying something big that was about to come.
"1...2...3... Hmmm... A total of 9 doors?" Serafall suddenly muttered while looking up with a serious, "So they aren't slowing down. They're saving their forces. You guys better gather all the forces that you can as fast as possible before your precious balance tips. You have at least half a day before those massive entryways open."
The wind picked up around her and a Magic Circle expanded below her feet.
"H-Half a day? 9 large doors are going to open!?" Renji asked in a panic.
But instead of answering his question, Serafall said something weird, "Aren't you lucky that you have the 'Envoy of Hell'? Just ask and you'll be exempted from Hell's punishment. Isn't that awfully convenient?" Before disappearing into motes of light.
"W-wait! What do you mean by that!?" Renji tried to reach out for her but Ichigo grabbed him by his shoulder, "Let's think about that later. The 12th Division will be able to confirm the number of doors. If it's indeed 9, then it's also probably true that it'll open in half a day. Go back for now and tell them everything that you know."
Renji thought that Ichigo was right and was about to leave when he suddenly realized something and stopped, "Wait... Everything? That means it includes Kazui!"
With a difficult expression, Ichigo replied, "I'll make sure that no harm comes to my family... But I feel like what she told us, in the end, is a hint to resolve this issue. Discuss it with Kurotsuchi-san, but please make sure that Akon, Byakuya-san, and if possible, Shunsui-san are present. I'm sorry, but I'm going to burden you."
Renji stared at him for a few moments before sighing, "Burden me all you want. You already saved my life a few times and this is the least I can do. However, even if we can make Captain Kurotsuchi promise not to do anything crazy, knowing him, and if it's for his perceived greater good, we don't know what he might actually do."
From his pocket, he took out a note and passed it to Ichigo, "In that case, you won't be able to depend on Soul Society... They know more than us so they might be able to help you more. Though we still don't know what exactly they are nor their objectives, it might be a better choice for you if you're cornered."
Ichigo confusedly took the note and saw that there was an address written on it, 'People who could help if Soul Society can't?...' Ichigo hurriedly looked back up to him, "You don't mean..."
"It'll be up to you."
Renji ran until he exited the Kurosaki household and hurriedly opened a Senkaimon to return to his post to report.
As soon as he left, Uryu also made his way to the door while saying, "I don't know if I'll be able to get their assistance, but I'll inform the Quincies of what's happening right now. I might go all the way to Hueco Mundo so I'll inform Harribel about this too. Chad, please stay here as additional protection for Inoue and Kazui."
Chad nodded at him and Ichigo also didn't have any objection to this. But more than that, Ichigo is carefully considering Renji's suggestion, 'Is it even safe to trust them like this?'
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