Chapter 941 Final Release
A crimson, almost tangible aura blasted through the roof of the temple. At this sight, Hecate couldn't help but frown, "I thought he'd be able to deal with him sufficiently on his own, but as expected, if you can't kill him fast enough, he'll pull something like this." And soon enough, gold and black aura soon joined the red aura spiraling upwards, "An aura of a Dragon, Devil, and God... But how? It's too early for him to achieve Godhood and there shouldn't be any Godly beings mixed into him. Even if it's a miracle, there should be some limits to it..."
Little did she know, because of a certain candy shop owner, he was fed a corrupted Divine Core suppressed by Ophis' powers. All this time, he was only able to harness Ophis' powers that had traces of that Divine Power, but now, Issei began to touch the corrupted power of a true Deity. Whether he'd be able to manage to control this power or be devoured by it, it'd be up to him.
But despite the expression she was showing, Aika could see deep interest from Hecate as if it wasn't her problem.
Hecate finally turned back to Aika and asked, "And what about you? Are you a miracle maker too like many of this abnormal generation?"
Aika silently stared at the gushing aura before answering a few seconds later, "...I am not, clearly. If hearing their true names needs a miracle, I am clearly not a miracle maker like you're speaking off."
Hecate carefully looked at her before finding a good rock to sit on. She didn't have any intention of attacking someone who has no intention of returning the favor, "I see... You are in dire need of enlightenment. Sadly, even a miracle wouldn't be able to help you with that."
Aika didn't say anything and just continued staring at the already long gone aura replaced by the temple's shaking as if she was trying to find an answer from it.
Hecate didn't mind her lack of reaction and continued, "Maybe you're looking at it from the wrong perspective? How about going back and taking a different angle?"
Hecate finally caught Aika's attention, "...Different angle?"
Hecate nodded, "You're looking for a 'name', is it? It seems that you are so sure about it. How about taking a step back and looking at it from a higher view?"
Aika didn't know why Hecate was helping her, but she didn't want to think about it now and would rather take her 'advice'.
In reality, Hecate wasn't really helping Aika. Since it was obvious that she's lost, there are only two results from her words. The more likely one, getting even more lost, or if she's lucky, she'd be able to find whatever she's looking for. Regardless, it'd be a more interesting sight than just fighting, which she doesn't really like doing.
Fortunately for Aika, those were the words she really needed to hear. Recalling Yoruichi's words about the next level and closely communicating with her Zanpakuto to reach that, Aika began to question it, 'Find its true form and name?'
But even after special training with her, she wasn't able to find anything even remotely close to it and it caused her to become depressed because she thought she was inadequate.
'In the first place, is there something like a true name?'
If she would ask Yoruichi and Kisuke this, they'll only give one answer and that's a big yes. And the reason? It's because they're true Shinigamis.
Not to say that Aika is a fake Shinigami, but even though she received her powers from Kisuke, most of her power was converted from something else and that was the former form of her Zanpakuto and their connection to the two Dragons. Strictly speaking, she's in a different class compared to Yoruichi and Kisuke even though the source of their power was the same and the logic they are using should only be useful to a certain extent.
'When I first released them... Thinking about it... I never received their names in the first place... I gave it to them. I named them. Akane and Kaguya. Very simple names because of their colors, still I gave it to them and never the other way around.'
If her line of thinking was correct, then all this time, she has been searching for something nonexistent and it's not that her Zanpakuto can't reveal their name yet to her, but that they didn't possess them in the first place.
Aika first looked at Hecate who had an amused smile and reassured herself that she wouldn't be doing anything else, 'How absurd...' She thought while sighing.
Closing her eyes, she called upon her daughters. In her inner world where there is almost nothing except darkness and a few glittering lights in all directions. In front of her were the little girls that were now very clear and smiling at her.
Aika didn't have to speak as both of them grabbed a hand each, [[We're ready!]]
Aika's eyes went wide open but she could only smile wryly after that, "I can't really give you two a name again, can I? I don't think that's how I should approach this."
But instead of answering her concerns, Akane and Kaguya pulled her hand and said, [[You're ready too, mother!]]
"Ready? What do you mean?"
The twins didn't explain further and just replied, [[Just call upon it! We'll return the favor!]]
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.
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It had only been a few minutes since Aika closed her eyes and Hecate had already felt Angra Mainyu's waning Divine Aura, 'He lasted as much as I expected, huh... Well, my job here is to keep Hades alive so I don't really care about him.'
At this moment, a scalding pressure originating from Aika suddenly came crashing down, 'Oh?'
But Hecate's casual expression was slowly erased as this pressure kept getting heavier and heavier that she had to put in some effort just to breathe, 'What now?'
Hecate picked up her short sword and wanted to attack her now, but she caused this in the first place so her pride wouldn't allow her to just interrupt her enlightenment just because it didn't go the other way around, 'Let me set up some defensive spells in the surroundings in advance... I should be fine after that.'
Finally, she heard Aika speak softly, "...Bankai."
'Bankai?' Hecate was immediately reminded of something, 'Isn't that the same power that Kisuke Urahara used to call the power of Avalokitevara in the Underworld? Is this the same thing?'
At the same time, Aika's aura shot spiraling upwards and unlike Issei's Dragon, Devil, and God aura, Hecate got even more intimidated since it's purely the power of Souls. With cold sweat running down from her forehead, Hecate thought, 'I'd already guessed that her ability had something to do with souls, but since it's being mixed and covered by both Magic and Ki, I couldn't be sure... To think something like this could exist... She's more of a Grim Reaper than all of Hades' Grim Reapers combined.'
Hecate hastily planted all sorts of restraining and defensive spells in their surroundings. At first, she only wanted to do a few, but seeing Aika now, she wanted to make sure that she was going to be safe as much as possible.
Soon, Aika's twin blades disappeared from her hands and red dragon scales started growing on her limbs and neck, reaching up to her cheeks. Her hands grew claws as she gritted her teeth as if enduring great pain. Four pairs of red Dragon wings then sprouted from her back while her braided brunette hair was undone and turned pitch black, picked up by the strong swirling winds.
Meanwhile, a black 10-inch wide that gets thinner until the tip, 8-foot long with 3-inch red fuller broadsword was slowly materializing in front of Aika.
In the middle of her preparation, certain words suddenly emerged in Hecate's mind, [Shinigami of the Endless Plane], "!?!?"
It wasn't a voice nor it was telepathy. It's as if someone ejected those words at her forcefully, "Is that the name of this form? Death God? But that's more of a Dragonoid..."
Aika finally opened her eyes that had black pupils and red irises that had already turned reptilian.
Grabbing the fully materialized giant broadsword, she immediately swung it towards Hecate.
Feeling the imminent threat, Hecate hurriedly activated one of his defensive spells, "!?"
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