Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.


Five Days Break – 12

Kotaro had plans. Thanks to the nameless Evil Eye, more possibilities opened for him to determine the next course of action. With the hidden town of the Great Ashen Tree being a grand battle stage, plenty of choices available, lots of routines appeared as the right eye scanned around the ruined site.

Plan A. Go back to the inn and salvage what was left of his belongings and equipment.

Kotaro jumped past a long rift that cut through the town and desolated a whole area with most of the structures buried deep beneath the earth. The former inn was only a short distance from the town's main entrance. He arrived there quickly and found out the entire building had already been burned to the ground by the dark flame.

Ingrid really did pour more of her strength into the fight against Kuchiki. Her flame completely turned the place into a huge pile of ashes. She'd intent to destroy that pseudo-immortal malice for good. It was unfortunate Kuchiki got her by surprise. Kotaro was sure the Hell Knight could have won the battle had she went all out from the start.

Alright. Plan A didn't work. Nothing inside the inn was still in one piece. Books, the luggage, clothes and his Taima battle suit were all gone.

Plan B. Find the one thing that could actually help him stand a chance against Kuchiki and the alien tree.

The wood creatures began approaching in groups, numbers came up by the dozen. They were non-responsive just now, this meant Kuchiki and his deity were about to make their next move. Whatever that was, Kotaro wouldn't want to get himself trapped in one place and find out. He skipped past them, running through the gaps in between and evaded their grab. Less effort spent and easily done than the last try, Kotaro observed the way they reacted to his tactic and responded accordingly. He paused before a pair of arms shot up from the ground. The right eye didn't enhance his precognition, by his own sense Kotaro'd anticipated the attack ahead of time. He was just getting slightly better at dealing with these creatures without relying on the awakened Art.

After successfully avoiding close-combat, he finally reached the forge.

"Ack! Seriously!?" Kotaro whined, wanting to facepalm himself.

The building was no longer there. In its place, a big hole appeared, leading to the darkness below. Of course this should be the case. With the rest of the town devastated by the earthquakes and moving tree limbs, there was no way the forge wouldn't be struck. The key that might let Kotaro put a stop to this whole event for good was really down at the bottom. For the worst part, the whole situation was screaming one big risk and disadvantage. If he didn't take this chance, there was no telling how much time he could stall until help arrives.

Kotaro made up his mind. He had to go down there one more time to get it, and he had to make it quick.

Jolt!

Right eye tingled, Kotaro immediately backed away. From the big hole, the source of his alert shot up to the sky. A giant humanoid figure smashed the ground with a hysterical laugh. The upper-half of Kuchiki's body rose on top its torso while his other half buried inside the neck of that giant.

"I knew you would try to get here so I've been waiting." Kuchiki said, the smile on his face stretched from ear to ear. "Ready to receive your punishment?"

Something was squirming underneath that giant's skin. They looked like multiple arms and leg and smaller bodies moving, twisting together like a whole group of fishes caught in the net. Kotaro hoped he was wrong, such a sight revealed the horrifying nature of the thing Kuchiki was controlling. It wasn't just one unified body of a single wood creature, the thing was actually the work of many hordes merging together.

"Surprise, isn't it? I turned them into this. Your ninja tricks stand no chance!" Kuchiki proudly declared.

The giant figure moved at an absurded speed for its size. Kotaro quickly dodged a swat of its arm and created more distance. That merged body didn't show any sluggish movement. The wood creatures were light by default, combined them and Kuchiki was able to come up with that unique vessel, something that has both speed and strength. The mobs alone was already a problem, adding that thing to the midst made things more difficult.

"By the way, I can even do this."

The giant's chest bulged. Kotaro startled, the collective bodies inside were piling into that swelling spot. As he performed hand seal, it exploded first, a vessel shot straight at him. It came out at the speed of a full-force launching spear. Kotaro twisted his body and dodged in the nick of time. Kuchiki made another shot, he dashed out the way. The bastard! Those were formerly people and now he disregarded them as used tool!

Kotaro tried to cast a Ninja Art, but his chance was blown away as Kuchiki continued rapid firing. Damn it! There was no window to counter! Tactic switched, Kotaro snatched the last shuriken from his belt and threw it directly at Kuchiki. If closing in didn't work, long-range combat should make a different.

"Nice try."

The giant's arm moved in the way and shielded Kuchiki from the five-wheeled dagger. The monster almost slipped a snicker as the weapon firmly stuck. Whatever Kotaro tried to do, it didn't work.

"I believe this is a losing battle for you, young man." When Kuchiki shifted his attention back to Kotaro, he was already far off in the opposite direction. "Huh?"

The monster stared at Kotaro's retreating back in puzzle. He was literally running away.

"Hey, hey. What is this? Are you finally feel like being cornered and helpless against me? Like I've said, you are not going to escape from here!"

Kotaro's head snapped back to look at the wood giant who was giving chase. Its body bulged and shrunk repeatedly like a beating heart as it continuously shot the vessels at him. The more minions shot out from the giant's body, the more it shrunkened in size. The attack bore a limitation, one that Kuchiki didn't care much. Hordes of wood creatures along the way all gathered around it and the giant absorbed them to store up more shots and turned its size back to the enormous figure that posed threat with both strength and speed and the fearsome rapid firing style. Kotaro pictured a machine gun with infinite ammunition once he saw that. Dashing from left to right to avoid the assault, Kotaro poured spikes along the way. Kuchiki's new body's feet tanked it all. That also did nothing, another pouch used up on his belt.

Changing direction, Kotaro headed straight to the area of town where all the buildings were either already collapsed or buried into the huge rift. He dove into the small gaps between the piling walls and debris. Kuchiki realized the young Taimanin deliberately chose that place to avoid the gunning assault.

"It's no use!"

A numbers of bodies crashed into the leftover of the town in sheer violence. Kuchiki repeatedly wasted his made-up ammunition as the sight was tore apart along with the limbs of wood creatures scattered in the air and around the ruin. Kotaro wouldn't be able to hide among the obstacles for much longer.

"Bear witness to our devotion! The Great Ashen Tree has blessed me with this precious gift!"

The firing stopped. But Kuchiki was not done, he let the giant below prepare for a big launch. The giant's chest bulked like a toad's neck, a large ball made of wood creatures' bodies merging together, limbs tangled despite the broken joints emerged from within. Their skin hardened, using the body toughened ability of the deceased Taimanin that was Kuchiki's fond former vessel. The next attack would be akin to a cannon ball. Kuchiki's confidence and insanity soared through the sky. Nothing in the world could stop him from wiping clean off everything in front of his eyes at this moment.

"It's a pity I can't make you into a worthy vessel. Perhaps I can use what's left of you to feed my deity after this."

Clasping his hands together, Kuchiki prayed, an act that wasn't entirely fit to the circumstance. But it certainly belonged to the most appropriate things that a mad man like him can deem it right. He enjoyed this decisive moment.

"May your death bring forth our long-awaited eternal spring."

The swelling on the giant's chest finally reaching its peak. The enlarged spot compressed and drew back into the body, holding the destructive force at bay before its eventual release. However, Kuchiki's smirk abruptly overtaken by a mild shock spreading on his face. Just now, the slightest disruptions lurking somewhere within the giant came to his notice. It made changes to the invisible connections Kuchiki formed with the merging wood creatures. One by one, they were disconnecting, unattached to the main body like dried leaves falling off from the tree. The leg gave in, Kuchiki's gigantic vessel collapsed on its feet while the cannon ball inside its chest was about to burst out. The impact charged up too much and couldn't be stopped, his own attack was about to become an imminent danger.

"W-What's happening?"

The disconnection began to grow and opened its way to the upper part of the giant vessel. This disruption to his sense was never under his control. Kuchiki had no way to force back the creeping energy eating away his absolute manipulation over the vessels. The entire conscious network existed parallel to each body that formed into a huge mass was disappearing fast.

[Seal Art: Barrier Fortification]

There was a greenish hue tracing along the body, it started glowing from the many scattered spikes which Kuchiki absorbed together with the wood creatures to reinforce the size of his new creation. Infused with Taima particles, the area denial weapon became Kotaro's most reliable tool to render Kuchiki's giant vessel unusable. Taking advantage of the absorption, Kotaro purposely threw the spikes while Kuchiki was too drunk on his overwhelming confidence to realize the fatal mistake he'd made. In his hiding spot, Kotaro completed the hand signs and activated Seal Art. Taima energy built up deep within the giant's body through the scattered spikes and formed a coordinated barrier, cut off parts of Kuchuki's influence over the merging corpses. Kuchiki only had himself to blame afterward as the charged up build on the giant's chest pointed straight to the ground now that it fell.

BANG!

The cannon ball made of the entangled wood creatures' bodies released, blowing up both the ground and the dysfunctional giant vessel to shreds. By a simply trick, Kuchiki'd lost his new vessel so easily.

"Not yet!"

Kuchiki didn't give up, he leaped out before the giant's torso is blasted to the air. Amidst the torn limbs, dirt and body parts sent flying, Kuchiki charged head first to Kotaro, who jumped out the hiding spot behind a few remaining walls. Fists threw with intense bloodlust, Kuchiki wanted to settle the rematch for good. The thought of engaging close-combat with the monster had never crossed Kotaro's mind. At this point, Kuchiki was downright fierce, his killing intent was thick enough a knife could cut it. Kotaro found no mean in fighting him head on like before, dragging out this fight would land him in a bad situation.

Pink-red shade spotted on the nameless right eye, after evading a punch from Kuchiki, Kotaro pushed back his right leg, the left held all his weight. Knowing the young Taimanin was about to counter-attack, Kuchiki increased his pace. The next instant-kill hit came up so fast that Kotaro didn't even manage to raise his own fist in time. Kotaro leaned back, torso twisted and head fully spun at the speed of Kuchiki's attack. The fist touched Kotaro's left cheek, he couldn't dodge it. But upon that instance, Kuchiki realized something was wrong. His attack did connect Kotaro's head. However, he couldn't feel the impact coming from it. The hand didn't push and make the head recoil out the way.

Kotaro wasn't turning his head to absorb the punch. The whole thing was a feint! He took a clearly defined stance with the intention to throw his fist back. But Kotaro did no such thing, he pretentiously let Kuchiki's attack happen a split second sooner in order to lure the ashen monster close in. Eventually, Kuchiki's arm reached full length, his fist sent shockwaves through the tree lines, at the other end of that fist was just empty air. The young man's head rolled along that arm with matching speed and successfully got out the way.

It was Kotaro's turn.

But Kuchiki was a cunning existence. With the Great Ashen Tree's blessing, he possessed an inhuman reflex. His elbow shoved backward, aimed right at Kotaro's face.

And it struck nothing. Kotaro's head flashed like a broken image and faded in. Kuchiki's line of sight glanced down to see him already ducking under the arm. Steady feet planted to the ground, body weight shifted to one spot, both arms cocked back, ready to deliver the blow, and right eye gleamed a chilling glare.

[Su Jinglei's Style: Ryuuhashin]

Kuchiki's bewilderment was brutally knocked off his face as Kotaro's fists thrust forward and released the built up Taima energy to the front. Being tossed a distance away, the ashen monster lied flat on the ground with its whole chest caved in. As the current body stayed dead, the phenomenon existed outside the norm happened. Through the right eye, Kotaro could clearly see Kuchiki's consciousness leaving and was quickly flying back to the big hole where the forge once was.

This time, in the role of a pursuer, Kotaro chased after the glittering dot that was a part of his enemy's true body. Concentrating the flow of Taima particles into his hand, he reached out, determined to extinguish that existence for good within a tight grip. Kuchiki's consciousness seemed to aware of the intention, it went quicker, discarded the linear movement and zig-zagged around the reach of his palm. It broke off from the line that was leading straight to the underground.

Kuchiki had said he won't let Kotaro escape, the irony of those words now struck him back in full. It was Kotaro who won't let him escape.

They almost reached the place, Kuchiki's consciousness, in a desperate attempt, zipped down the hole and entered the darkness of the abyssal underground tunnel while Kotaro made a full stop by the edge. The young Taimanin couldn't take risk jumping down to continue his pursuit, Kuchiki gladly used that chance to rebirth a new vessel.

But then…

The surrounding seemed to bend, the shape of great branches and roots swirled up, circled in a bizarre turn of visual display. The space around Kuchiki's consciousness strangely wrapped itself and in no time, it found itself zipping toward the light. It saw the moon above the surface.

"NO! Impossible!" Kuchiki's consciousness screamed internally.

Just now, it was heading down! Why was it turning up!? It was already back to where the young man was standing!

[Void Art: Inversion]

Too late to react, the consciousness ended up right within Kotaro's grasp.

"I know you're listening." He said. "I got the gist of it. Instead of going through the ground, you had to flee all the way here. This means there're limits to your rebirth ability."

If Kuchiki's consciousness had a face, it would profusely sweat while staring wide-eyed at Kotaro.

"By default, you can control the mass because of your direct connection to the Tree. The same goes to your pseudo-immortal state. That's why you were desperate to swallow the Ashen Flower you harvested at the top of that thing, your ability evolved thanks to it. You can freely switch between bodies by transferring your consciousness around the pathways existing only to you. It's what those invisible lines I've seen stretching from you actually means. But now, all I see is just a singular path."

The small dot trapped within Kotaro's hand was shivering. He finally cracked the mystery by observing the enemy.

"When you took over that Taimanin's body, you acted alone while you could have easily called more of those creatures to overwhelm me and Ingrid. We didn't gain any edge over that situation, Ingrid's strongest weapon is her flame but her burden was me. Because of my uselessness, she couldn't go all out."

Regret lingered in his voice, another moment among the countless time where Kotaro would always remember his place in the world.

"Frankly, we were at a disadvantage and you had the upper hand. You didn't take it, even though you had had every single chance. You didn't do it out of confidence, it's because you couldn't. You can only control a few of those things while you were using the vessel's original ability. This is the first limit. In order to capture Ingrid, you had to exploit her weakness in the most cunning way. The Hell Knights are known in the Dark World for their strength and upright principles, you used Ingrid's moral standards against her. You were just lucky."

That was an undeniable truth. Ingrid's strength alone could defeat Kuchiki easily.

"Second limit. I'll describe it using your own term, blossoming from the bodies of those who'd gone past the definition of normal actually exhausts your control. Using a Taimanin's Art requires Taima energy, since you forsake your humanity, it became a problem to your intangibility. That would explain why you appeared in front of me not in the rebirthed body of the dead Taimanin but as a common vessel back in the underground tunnel. Your consciousness in that moment could go through things and manipulate a whole army simply because you didn't have the remnant particles restricting the ability. And this time, you came up with that giant vessel to stop me. But that, in return, revealed the third limit."

Kotaro slowly tightened his grip.

"You're a crafty monster, Kuchiki. What's right here is a fragment of your mind, isn't it? You split your consciousness, this piece didn't give you the full set of your so-called blessing. You lost your intangibility because it's just a part of you, not all of you. You had to reach this place, and maybe transfer yourself to another vessel down there."

Taima energy surged from his hand, the glittering dot rapidly faded in and out.

"I said I would stop you with everything I have. I'm sticking to those words now, starting with this."

Hand curled into fist, Kotaro crushed the tiny fragment of Kuchiki's consciousness.


A fearful scream raised at the heart of the Great Ashen Tree.

Falling off the large cocoon which was made as the resting chamber, the pale old man had a frighten expression on his face. His skin filled with wrinkles like a tree's bark and on his chest was a deep cut emitting a faint crimson color, never been healed. It continued to be there as a reminder that the Great Ashen Tree and its avatar had once crossed the line and paid the price for it. The old man clutched his head as his whole body was spasming in the intense imaginary pain that was rushing through it. Kuchiki's mental endurance was proven worthless at the consequence of losing a part of his mind. The agony was drilling a hole into his head despite no physical effect occurred. What the young man had done was no different from pulling out a portion of his brain and straight up trampling on it. He had severely underestimated the Taimanin of Gosha. Fuuma Kotaro was more than a valuable nutrition for Kuchiki's deity, in combination with that weird eye, he became a real threat to their goal. Over a thousand year, this was the second time a serious danger appeared at their doorstep.

This can't be happening again! The Great Ashen Tree was very near to the final step in its grand plan! It would usher in the next era of eternal spring! Forcing himself to stand up on buckled knees, Kuchiki staggered towards another cocoon. The damage had caused his true body to undergo a declining stage. That was something must not be allowed while the Great Ashen Tree had been waiting for a full recovery.

Kuchiki placed his hand on the see-through surface of the cocoon and gently stroke it. He looked at the figure inside. It was a woman wearing an old robe, her skin had dried up and not a drop of liquid sustained in the body. At first look, she seemed to be in a slumber that would last for hundred of years. But Kuchiki showed a gut-wrenching smile as if he was recalling his time as a human, he knew better about her. She was the priestess who represented herself as the Great Ashen Tree's first avatar. The little gap right where her heart was supposed to be spoke volumes about the moment that came right before her tragic end. It shared the same color with the cut on his chest, the crimson glow had never been standing out more than the pale, ashen appearance that struck the beauty of a withered flower.

Kuchiki had tried his best, and the Great Ashen Tree helped him preserve the body. There was nothing more they could do but leaving the priestess in a suspended state. Kuchiki took the mantle and continued the work as a way to offer his undying devotion.

"Very soon, the Great Ashen Tree will grant my wish upon the new age. It will bless you a new life. It will help you return to being a lively, beautiful flower you once were. Just wait a little longer." He casted away his human side a long time ago but the emotions persisted. It poured out to the cold unliving figure.

He turned to another cocoon hanging at the highest place within the heart of the Great Tree. There was the dark-skinned beauty sleeping inside, her long pink hair trailed along the inner layer of the see-through surface. Steady breathes left her lip, her life was not yet in danger, her body was not wounded, her blood – according to Kuchiki, is a very precious ingredient to his deity– was left untouched. Neither Kuchiki nor the Great Ashen Tree could get it. Despite Ingrid's consciousness has sunk to a deeper level, her mental state remained strong, invulnerable. Her battle instinct was another difficult thing to bypass, it was resilient to the point it became a nuisance. He had no way to go through the floating dark blue tinder that burned indiscriminately. It kept vanishing then reappearing, refused to let anything potentially harm her, the next injection to draw out Ingrid's essence had to be delayed.

Old man Kuchiki clicked his tongue. At the very least, the Great Ashen Tree found a way to work around that. The flesh, the blood and the soul. If the other two didn't work out, there would still be the last option. It would take more time, the sufficiency was guaranteed nonetheless. The clock would still be tickling for Ingrid.

A wood creature emerged from the wall and approached Kuchiki, went down on its knees and presented him an Ashen Flower, fully bloomed. A bouquet was on the way, but for this moment one was enough. The first few drops of the Hell Knight's blood will birth a whole garden, Kuchiki was looking forward to it.

"The gift bestowed upon me has limits, huh. Very well." He smirked, thinking about what the young man'd said before the ruthless crush of the split part of his consciousness. Kuchiki took the flower and bit on the petals. "You have showed yourself as a threat to me, I won't underestimate you anymore."

The old man's pale body didn't change shape or gain to a youthful look. The wood creature's chest cracked open and the man that looked like Kuchiki in his prime came out.

"It's been hundred of years since the last time you had split your consciousness. The Ashen Flower does helps, but anymore of this will take a toll on your body, wise old me. Then I suppose this means we are up to something new."

"This body and soul would crumble only in the case that we had failed to do our part for the Great Tree. Would you lose again?" Old man Kuchiki asked his younger-self.

"No. I'll prove my devotion. I'll make the rascal pay for what he did. I can keep going as long as we need."

"The time is near. We should make this quick."

"Our numbers, the one thing he is cautious the most. Even if he got to the sword, he wouldn't be able to do a thing against an army. His ninja tricks are nothing in the face of the Great Ashen Tree and the devotees we have recruited over the centuries."

"Assumption can be self-deceiving, do not let confidence cloud your judgement because of the rebirth ability. As you are me, you remember the reason why our deity withered once. We have yet to see what else the Taimanin Fuuma Kotaro is capable of."

"We might as well put the others into use, you would agree." Young Kuchiki suggested. "Since the flower granted us another blessing, let's test it out with our most favorite devotees."

"Do as you like. No need to bring back the body. The Hell Knight alone is enough to return us to the golden age."

Young Kuchiki beamed a smile, one that twisted with malice.


"Pardon for my imprudent question, does anyone here has something relates to the Captain?"

All attentions in the aircraft gathered at Eleonor who sheepishly raised her hand.

"Something relates to Fuuma-kun?" Sakura repeated then pondered over the words. "If you want to talk about the funny stuff to light up the mood then we have plenty of stories about him."

"Can you be more specific?" Asagi asked.

"Um, what I'm trying to say is I would like to borrow an object that's used to belong to the Captain. Have you ever received anything from him?"

"Candy." Noah answered.

"Food is okay."

"But, I ate it."

"Ah, I see. Is there anything else, everyone?"

"Do feelings count?" Saika spoke up.

"Well, I need it to be tangible. As long as it's a physical object, it can be all sort of thing. Otherwise, this will not work."

"Hm, is that so? What a pity."

"Why is that a pity?" Yukikaze questioned. "Wait, why did something like feelings is even brought up?"

"Oh, I'm not so sure." Saika gave a mysterious smile. "Why did I even bring it up, I wonder."

Next to her, Shiranui giggled sweetly. She got the idea, and her daughter had yet to grasp it. Rinko was blushing a bit, even she understood the meaning that wasn't directly expressed. There was a room filled with full of intangible emotions shared among the members, especially it was about the young man who ditched his team to go on a solo vacation and got himself in trouble. If they put it on a scale, the weight would shift a lot.

"E-Excuse me, I received the task force emblem from Fuuma-senpai. Would that be helpful?" Sora said in an uncertain tone.

"Thank you! That should do!" Eleonor was glad there was something they could use.

Placing the emblem Sora provided on the floor, the dark elf began to conjure her power.

"What are you going to do?" Murasaki asked.

"I'm going to prepare a ritual." Eleonor waved her hands gently as if she was drawing imaginary words with a glowing light at the tip of her fingers. "By calling upon the power of Mother Nature, I can help us to get a glimpse into the relative condition of a certain individual. Since this is a very common spell among those who dedicate themselves to the study of Light Magic, the end result is depended on how well one can read and balance the flow of energy returned by nature itself. The set up is very simple. For this spell to work, an object that has once attached to the person is required to be used as a catalyst in order to establish the connection."

A magic sphere enveloped Sora's emblem and colorful lights circulated around it. The object rose above the floor as it followed Eleonor's gesture, hovering at the middle of her palms. Chanting whispered in her native tongue, Eleonor made a troubled expression as the magic sphere didn't show any change.

"What's wrong?"

"The connection has been established. However, the reading is unclear. This is going to take some time, how long until we arrive at the destination?"

"About three hours. We will be there by dawn." Asagi answered.

Eleonor thought for a moment and came up with an idea.

"I believe I can speed up the progress. However, just one emblem is not enough for this new approach. I'm going to need several more items."

"Then here, take mine. He gave it to me when we signed the contract." Aina Winchester offered her emblem.

"I got mine here, too." Kamimura Maika did the same.

"Please use this." Nagi joined in.

Yukikaze gazed back and forth between others who gave the item and the one kept on her battle suit.

"Headmistress Asagi gave me this though."

"Same." Sakura pouted. "We have nothing for this. But don't worry Yukikaze-chan! There are other ways for us to contribute the effort!"

"Well, if Fuuma gave me something, I would…...w-wait! Why are you saying like I wanted to participate in this!?"

"Aww, come on. I know you want to."

"Hmpf! Eleonor's already received plenty of help." Yukikaze tossed her face to the side. However, the tingle on her cheeks couldn't escape Sakura's mischievous gaze. "This has nothing to do with me anymore. As if I wanted to carry his stuff around in a mission, I would rather keep it in my roo-I mean I got nothing from that idiot! Ahh mou! Somehow that makes me really irritated!"

"He gave me the vice-captain position." Su chimed in. Her chin held high.

"Huh? Gave you?" Yukikaze was looking at her with half-opened eyes. "You earned the role thanks to Headmistress Asagi. Fuuma only proposed the idea and she made the decision. Why did you have to bring that up out of nowhere?"

"To ascertain the context." Su replied with a straight face.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Su-chan, that's also intangible. You know it doesn't count."

"Of course." Su returned to her seat and casted her gazes on the floor, mumbling.

"Wow, sounds like there's a competition." Sakura commented. "And neither wins."

"What competition?" Yukikaze asked.

"Nevermind~. Ah! Kirara-senpai, what did you have for Eleonor?"

"Eh!?" Kirara startled as she just handed over her personal item to the dark elf. "W-Why are you asking? Of course I'm lending her my emblem just like everyone else."

"Oh~! I see, I see. You also received it from Fuuma-kun in person then."

"Well, he kept insisting me to take it." Kirara avoided eye-contact while she turned red. "So I accepted. But don't misunderstand, alright! This is for the Task Force, after all."

"I've never said anything."

"That mischievous grin on your face speaks volumes though."

"About what, Kirara-senpai?" Sakura winked.

"F-Forget it, I'm going back to my seat."

"Thank you. I will add yours to the rest." Eleonor expressed her gratitude.

When the emblem was about to enter the floating magic sphere and mix in together with the other objects, Kirara immediately halted her step, rushed back to the dark elf and stopped her. Eleonor was taken aback by the sudden change in Kirara's decision.

"Hold up! Just hold up for a second!" Kirara's voice filled with panic.

"Y-Yes?"

"Were you going to add mine together with the others'?"

"Um, yes." The dark elf nodded. "That way I can adjust the flow of natural energy to get a better reading on Captain's current status."

"Can you, like, make a separate sphere for each item and place my emblem in one of them?"

"I'm afraid that would cause the ritual to be inefficient as it would take some time to join together the energy at various coordination. The method I'm using here is already the timesaver with often the most promising results."

"B-But…..if you mix them together like that, I can't tell which one is mine after this."

"Do you want to have it back?"

"Uuuh." Kirara almost wanted to hug her head in distress. "Fine! Give me a moment."

She took the emblem from Eleonor's hand and rushed to a corner of the room. Showing her back to everyone, she tinkered with the item and returned to the dark elf once she'd finished.

"Here you go."

Kirara's emblem was safely stored inside a mini drawstring pouch. Thanks to this, no one could mistake their emblem with hers. After giving it to Eleonor, Kirara sat in her designated seat and let out a soft sigh in relief.

"The emblem must be very important to you, isn't that right? Kirara-senpai~."

At Sakura's teasing words, she blushed heavily. Kirara wanted to retort with an excuse but she soon realized everyone was watching. Having no choice, both hands brought up to cover the face, she sat still, uttering not a word for the rest of the trip.

Onisaki Kirara was truly adorable with that reaction, everyone thought.

...

"Onee-chan, what did you give Eleonor?"

"Curious, Sakura?"

Asagi tossed the question back to Sakura, whose eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Come on, tell me! Your cute little sister wants to know what kind of thing big sis got from Fuuma-kun."

"Just a notebook Fuuma-kun and I exchange regularly."

"Eh?" Sakura was somewhat surprise to hear that. "What kind of notebook?"

"That's confidential." Asagi smiled.

"D-Don't tell me! You two have been writing lovey-dovey stuff to each other, a couple's diary!?"

"Asagi-sama! Is that true!?"

Murasaki and Sakura were both shocked by their own conclusion, the former's expression was pale than usual.

"You two have such overactive imaginations. Every time before Fuuma-kun submits the reports, he would provide me a roughed draft of contents that will be included in the final report. The notebook is used for that. It's his idea to help me process the info quicker since I'm busy throughout the day."

"So it's strictly professional business between you and Fuuma-kun overall."

"Precisely."

"Jeez, and here I was hoping it would go like this." Sakura mimicked Asagi's voice. "I, Igawa Asagi, would also sneak in a couple flirty lines on the pages to pick up my most favorite student's cute reaction. For example, if I write something like Fuuma-kun, let's transcend beyond our student and teacher relationship, I wonder how will he respond. Oh, I can't wait to test it out!"

"Sakura, after this I will go check on your room. If I find even the slightest dirt on the carpet, prepare yourself for a double training program."

"Yikes! I got myself in trouble!" Sakura realized the fact a bit too late.

"Why did you even joke like that to begin with, Sakura?" Murasaki facepalmed. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Mu-chan, if the joke doesn't make any sense, why did you act all shocked like me?"

"Because the idea has never crossed my mind! You made me think about it!" Murasaki retorted. "Someone as dignified as Asagi-sama would never do something as such!"

"Yes, I doubt that would ever be the case with the Headmistress." For some reason, Saika had joined in the conversation. She shared a glance with Asagi and they both smiled. "Am I right, Asagi-san?"

The expression was so natural and genuine that neither Sakura nor Murasaki could detect a motive running behind the scene.

"Who to say I would look over my shoulder and mistake the past as the present. Those are two different realities." Asagi replied cryptically.

"People tend to trip over their own footing and lose their sense of direction after the fall." Saika also had a fair share of ambiguous meanings. "Who to say you would move forward to the present while it is in fact the past you're heading toward."

"To a Taimanin, that hardly occurs. We don't lose our balance so easily."

"But to a woman, such clumsy moments can still happen at any time."

"…."

"….."

"Uwah." Sakura couldn't hide her bewilderment. "Those two are onto something. Saika-san and Onee-chan are smiling but at the same time, they aren't. I have no idea what's happening."

"Speak for yourself, Sakura. From what I can see, they are engaging in a duel which only they are both the competitors and spectators." Murasaki said. "The Imaginary Sparring."

Gasp!

"They are doing that!? That's so impressive!"

"Indeed. Even in this moment, they are taking the opportunity to further improve their mental training by using each other's shadow work. Once you perceive the other's techniques well enough, you are able to picture their movements accordingly within your mind. In their case, Asagi-sama and Saika understand each other perfectly and it's thanks to their sharpened senses that this match is possible."

"Mu-chan can also do this, right?"

"Hm. This is nothing sort of special. As I am now, I can do the imaginary sparring with Asagi-sama all day if I wanted to."

"So my sister is thinking about how Saika-san is anticipating her combat at the moment. Probably involving a lot of kicking."

"Well, it's her fighting style."

"Then Onee-chan would counter by swinging her sword around and Saika-san always dodges by a hair. In term of skills, they are neck to neck."

"However, Asagi-sama will come out on top as she is the Almighty." Murasaki closed her eyes and pictured the victory. "It's the only natural outcome."

"Yeah, I can see that." Sakura agreed. "But what if it wasn't an easy victory. Before Onee-chan managed to get the last hit, Saika-san locked her down using full-body grappling techniques. Neither of them was giving up, Saika-san tried to keep her hold on Onee-chan curvy body while big sis struggled to break out. After a tense moment filled with nothing but alluring whispers, excited gasps and soft tender muscles caressing each other, Onee-chan threw a feint and successfully knocked out Saika-san."

"Kuh! You're right, I believe that is also possible." Murasaki frown, for a different reason. "If only I could be in that position."

"Understandable, Mu-chan. Are you jealous?" Sakura flipped the topic, her lip showed a cat-like grin.

"Of course I am jeal-Wait a minute!" Murasaki finally realized the land mine she was about to step on. "Oi! Sakura, enough fooling around!"

"In the good name of the Task Force, I've carried out my duty to light up the mood."

"It seems both of you were having an interesting conversation."

Asagi and Saika had turned their attention to Murasaki and Sakura, who managed to avoid the former's grasp.

"Asagi-sama, how was the duel? Did you win?"

"Duel?"

Asagi and Saika shared a glance.

"You must be mistaken, Asagi-san and I were just having a friendly chat."

"Eh? You didn't do the imaginary sparring?"

Saika let out a giggle.

"I'm worried about Young Master at the moment. It's not possible for me to concentrate my mind to that extent."

"Under these conditions." Asagi addressed the rumbling engine of the aircraft and the constant light shaking as they were moving at high speed. "I won't be able to focus that much asides from our mission."

Murasaki's jaw hung at the revelation.

"Oh wow. Mu-chan's imagination turns out to be so wild." Sakura decided to bring out the blush on her cheeks.

Murasaki fell back to her seat and covered her face. Until she calmed down, Murasaki continued to murmur words incomprehensible to everyone's ears.


After descending the underground tunnel, he finally caught the sight of the forge.

There was almost nothing left of the building, Kotaro was looking at a big pile of rubbish scattering at the bottom. Truthfully, he didn't like being in this vast area. The environment was a perfect set up for Kuchiki's troublesome ability. Kotaro knew he has to be quick about this.

Closing his right eye, he concentrated his senses to get in touch with the sensation coming from the treasure now buried underneath the debris. He detected a subtle wave of Taima energy within the vicinity. it resembled an imaginary thread to him, led and pointed to a specific spot. Thanks to the awakened eye, his senses had gotten sharpened. As he approached, the thread seemed to give off little vibration. Found it!

The sensation got stronger as he turned up the heavy bricks and wood pieces. Kotaro was struck by a sudden rush of emotions. It wasn't his own, it belonged to the treasure inside the box. He could feel a living will lingering about with sentiments. The rumors were true.

"It's really intense." Kotaro muttered as he grabbed the box and pulled it off the rubbish. "No wonder it got to Ingrid's attention."

One of Senketsu's Crafts.

The crimson blade forged by the ancient blacksmith was giving hints that it acknowledged his presence, the Taima energy surrounding it reacted to his touch. This weapon is the one thing that can help him cut down the existence known as the Great Ashen Tree and its abominations, Kuchiki is first in that order.

Rumbling!

The ground began shaking, he kept the box close and watched the tree moving above. Speak of the devil, the pale silhouette of a familiar figure came back for a vengeance. Kuchiki jumped from the descending tree branch and landed a distance in front of Kotaro. The ashen monster appeared in a new body, he casually wiped the dirt off his body and grinned, he was up to something.

A wood creature stood next to him. Unlike the behavior of a reanimated corpse, it had proper posture and acted with a mind of its own. It stretched arms, rubbed the shoulder and hands rested on hip. Those nonchalant expression gave off bad vibes, but Kotaro'd already seen through the reason why it did. The wood creature forced both arms into its head. From within the opened crack, a second Kuchiki revealed himself and said hi with a big grin.

Kotaro didn't think there would be a twin, he doubted it as the potential of Kuchiki's so called blessing came to mind. Kuchiki had split his consciousness once again. This time, there were two of that ashen monster. The next battle would be problematic in every aspect.

"We've been thinking about what you said." One of them spoke up. "We took into consideration and admitted that you were right, young man. There are limits to this gift."

The large branch was still moving until it struck the ground.

"So! We came up with this." The other smiled. It was so disturbingly cheerful Kotaro nearly taken aback. "One of us brought a good numbers of devotees to start a banquet!"

Crack after crack appeared along the body of the branch. Like a pack of hornets leaving their hive for the hunt, the wood creatures poured out, it didn't matter if they had to step on each other or crawl all the way to behind the Kuchikis with broken limbs. A whole army of faceless wood zombies were waiting for a lavish feast.

"To my people! Tonight, we'll celebrate early the coming age of Eternal Spring!" Kuchiki turned to the wood creatures, speaking loudly in a derisive tone. "I hereby present to you the main dish!"

There was no meaning in his action. There was no point in declaring to the mindless lumbering shells that had no traces of their former identity. But Kuchiki would still do it to stir up the sickening applaud for himself. The echo from those clapping hands was stiff, emotionless and heavy. Just the sounds of wood logs hitting each other made Kotaro frown. In his own delusional reality, the monster saw himself boosting the moral of his minions. He requested their devotion to be on full display.

"How's that, young man?" The other Kuchiki said. "Other me brought a lively mob with him. As for myself…"

A faint light surrounded Kuchiki's body and the ashen skin hardened, Kotaro widened his eye in shock. The monster was using Taima particles to reinforce his body with the deceased Taimanin's Ninja Art.

"If we can't multi-task, we simply need to split to cover both. If my power is restricted, the other one can use his all. When you offered yourself to become whole with the Great Ashen Tree, willing or unwilling, your essence is eventually a part of it. The best thing comes from that is as you can see." Kuchiki spread his arm. "I have now gained access to the ability that comes with the soul. I could use the original vessel to control it better but this should suffice. This is the new height of my rebirth!"

An overwhelming numbers combined with a Taimanin's power, the situation really had gone worst.

Cold sweats dripping down the forehead, Kotaro spun on his back feet and ran. However, more of them were coming. Large hordes of wood creatures rained down from above, completely surrounded him. Kotaro opened the box, unwrapped the clothes and held the sword firmly in his grasp. The body of the blade gleamed in the darkness with glowing crimson color.

But it would do nothing in the face of an entire army of ashen monsters.

"Now, let's the banquet begin!"

Enemies from all direction charged at him. Kotaro raised the sword to shield himself from the attack. The Kuchiki who was controlling the mass had leaped past them all to get the first taste of the banquet, his fist smashed into the sword, spreading a strong vibration that nearly threw the weapon off Kotaro's grip. He swung and Kuchiki jumped back to dodge the blade, the monster was being aware of the consequence of being cut by it. Just as another strike was about to come, Kotaro immediately cocked back his elbow and swung the blade at another fist coming at his blind spot. The Kuchiki with a hardened body armor smiled confidently after Kotaro managed to fence off the sneaky attack.

"Show me how you can deal with this many of us, Fuuma Kotaro!"

The wood creatures aggressively rushed over like a tidal wave on its way to swallow up a boat.

"And guess what! We've stopped playing around!"

Using Wind Art, Kotaro propelled himself up high. Sword held backward and hand signs done quickly in succession, Kotaro drew air into his lung. Before he could release the jutsu, Kotaro twisted his body to avoid Kuchiki, who launched at him. However, the other one managed to tackle Kotaro. Ack! Both were attacking in sync! Dodging a punch to the gut, Kotaro knocked the second Kuchiki by the sword handle, the counter did little to faze the monster as he still beamed a creepy smile and continued to throw hands until both fell into the middle of the rushing mob. With the face being grabbed and head pinned to the ground, Kotaro struggled to escape. The wood creatures gathered, stacking over each other to hold him down.

Smash!

Kuchiki's fist finally connected. It struck Kotaro right across the face, right eye's vision blurred for an instance.

"No where to run now!"

Kotaro tilted his head and the next strike shattered the ground. Kuchiki wasn't going to be on the offensive for long. Having one lump of smoke gritted between the teeth, Kotaro unleashed Scorch Art at point-blank. The ferocious flame burst through Kuchiki, incinerated half of the body and rose past the horde behind him. Kotaro didn't care if he ended up burned for this, anything was better than a fate worse than death or even death itself at the hand of the ashen monster and his damn tree. He had to wipe them out, reduce the numbers than maybe an opportunity will come up. Kotaro must take the risk.

The rising column of flame spread, destroyed everything that tried to come closer. Ashes and dust from melting corpses fell, some hit Kotaro and caused burn marks. When he finally stopped, the vicinity was clear. That was just a short distance away from the next wave. They all raced towards him as Kuchiki wasn't planning on stopping. Kotaro quickly made another hand sign, crimson sword dropped to his feet and inhaled deeply before releasing the jutsu a second time.

[Scorch Art: Phoenix Flowers]

Consecutive shots of fireball exploded around the underground tunnel, Kotaro rapidly spew fire as he spun around. They kept coming while he tried to stand his ground with crowd control techniques.

Cough!

Kotaro's hands were trembling, his body shook slightly and his throat choked by ragged gasps. His energy pool was already in the red. The lightheadness started to pull on his consciousness. The risk when taken is often followed by a consequence, it finally caught up to his decision. Repeatedly using a high-level Ninja Art cost him a great deal of both physical and mental strength. His knees bent, it gave up much to his shock. Without the strength to stand, Kotaro groveled on the ground against his will.

This wasn't the right eye reaching its limit. This was as far as Kotaro could keep up, his stamina and Taima energy pool had hit the bottom rock.

"Well. Look at you. I was just done playing and relied on my force. Just that much and you were brought down to your knees, hard to imagine I had had a difficult time with you. I even prepared to line up my most fond devotees."

Kuchiki walked out from a great fire that continued to burn the remaining creatures' corpses. He didn't appear unscathed, one of his arms had melted off.

"I would love to give you a round of applaud for the effort. But as you can see, I am going to need you to lend me a hand."

Zero warning, Kuchiki proceeded to step on Kotaro's left arm and steadily added more weight to it. Kotaro gave a grimace of pain, he tried to push Kuchiki's leg away to no avail. Slowly and surely, the monster continued to press his feet down at a pleasure pace. Kotaro desperately punched the ankle, blood drawn from his own hand as Kuchiki'd already hardened his body. One-hand signs formed, Shinonome Nanami's Art Style activated in hope that it would lessen the crushing pain. A greenish aura covered his arm for a moment.

And…

It dispersed, like a mirror shattered to million pieces. There was not enough Taima particles in his body to perform the Art.

Damn it! Everything is at stake and this has to happen now!

Crack!

Kotaro forced a scream. The monster straight up dislocated the elbow joint and held him up by the wrist.

"I could tear off your arm, but that would make you feel numb afterward. This pain lasts longer."

Clap Clap!

"You were admirable to put up this much against a God. You could have been a worthy vessel." Said Kuchiki, hitting his palm with Kotaro's. "Oh, you might even become a great devotee to our cause. Unfortunately, that seems to be an only pipe dream coming from me. I shouldn't have expected too much from the beginning."

He let go, Kotaro dropped to the ground and immediately jumped for the sword. A kick to the side shut down his attempt.

"Ah, what do we have here?" Kuchiki crouched and stared at the sword without touching it. "The sword that rudely cut down my beloved priestess. If it wasn't for this piece of metal and Senketsu, she could have made us all whole for the Great Ashen Tree. The world she envisioned would become real."

Kuchiki trampled the sword with rage.

"You just had to show up one day and ruined everything important to her! You slaughtered everyone and even opened a hole in her heart! You tried to seal my deity away! Damn you! DAMN YOU, Senketsu!"

Every stamp of his feet left a dent beneath the sword. Yet, Senketsu's blade miraculously endured Kuchiki's temper. Seeing that he couldn't damage it. Kuchiki picked up the blade only for the sharp edge to slice off a couple of his fingers just by touching. The sword refused to be held by a non-human.

"Now it shows up in front of me while I tried to leave it alone, the damn thing won't break. And you, young man, knew about it and wanted to use it against me. You must have loved the idea that I can be cut down easily. Look at you now. You are one foolish youngster who doesn't know how to think far ahead for the sake of the Great Ashen Tree."

Kotaro tried to crawl towards the sword and Kuchiki knocked him on his back with another kick to the face. Something red was dripping.

"You just won't give up. You truly believe that you can do anything you want in our dormant? You want to rescue that Hell Knight? You're just a disrespectful, weak brat who doesn't know his place!"

Kuchiki continued to vent his anger. He swatted Kotaro's arm away and threw a punch to the face.

"You know you can't run away so you're trying to fight back. Not going to work this time. You are hopeless and that right eye can't do a thing for you anymore."

Kuchiki continued to punch, kick and throw Kotaro to where the sword was. As the wounded Taimanin struggled to support himself up with an arm and grabbed the sword. Kuchiki yanked him backward by the collar of his shirt.

"Do you understand what it feels like to be our enemy now? Do you regret ever not accepting my kindness for inviting you to join us?"

Kotaro didn't respond. The right eye had closed for some time, and the left had swelled up due to Kuchiki's attack. He couldn't see clearly even though he was squinting hard through the little gap between the eyelid and the swollen cheek. He couldn't do anything to fight or escape while having a broken arm and a dried up stamina.

"N…" Kotaro whispered weakly. "…..er….."

"Huh?" Kuchiki raised an eyebrow in puzzle.

"Never..."

Trembling right hand still held onto the sword, Kotaro's muscle barely had enough strength to raise it. Kuchiki let out a sigh, he had grew tired of this behavior.

"Fuuma Kotaro, you who are deemed as a danger to us and the Great Ashen Tree. As my deity is watching, I will carry out my devotion."

Crash!

A bone-crushing sound echoed in the underground tunnel.

Kuchiki had smashed Kotaro's face against the ground. The impact caused a small pond made of dark red liquid spilling from the young Taimanin's face-down head, he was no longer shaking from the intense pain.

So...this was it. Things had turned out this way. Even with the Nameless Evil Eye, he couldn't do a thing against Kuchiki and the Great Ashen Tree. Nothing has really changed.

Kotaro wasn't entirely sure what had gotten to him over the course of tonight incident. His enemies were on pair with the Old Gods and ancient demons, he knew this beforehand. Why did he do this in the first place? Since when did he have the guts to fight these monsters? Maybe he should have escaped when he'd gone back to the surface? Maybe searching for Ingrid was the wrong choice all along?

No. It was never wrong. It was never wrong to look past on oneself for another's sake even though it defied all the rules that made him a Taimanin. Ingrid was his companion. But what can he do now? His body had stopped moving. He could barely utter a word. The sword was in his grip but he couldn't swing it.

Jolt!

His eye seemed to sting a bit. Kotaro wasn't sure which one as he couldn't tell with the numbness.

This was…

This had been the third time he wanted to apologize to everyone.

If it was Asagi-sensei and the others, surely they could handle this swiftly. Fuuma Kotaro had only been good at leading others to succeed a mission. After all, their Captain was just an ordinary human who lived among those that surpassed the definition of being normal. This right eye, what it could do was simply mimicking their techniques, and he could only use it to this much extent. There was more to it. The right eye possessed much more complex concepts that Kotaro had yet to find out due to his poor capability.

Awakening his Ninja Art was one thing, Kotaro had never prepared himself to wield it properly. In the aftermath, this was the result.

I guess they would be disappointed.

Kotaro lamented on the expressions of the Task Force members once the circumstance comes to light.

….

"…"

As the sound of his heart grew weaker, Kotaro thoughts eventually drifted away.

There was nothing else comes to mind after that.

/


Still, it's okay if this can help you get out of the worst case scenario.

The suggestion only activates once. After that, it's up to you.

….

….

….

….


"It's done!" Eleonor announced. "The ritual is completed!"

The magic sphere shone a bright light.

"Natural energy reading is stable. It's showing Captain's vitality."

Task Force members gathered around Eleonor and observed the light ball floating on top her hands.

"This bright light here means the Captain's health is in good shape."

Before anyone could breathe a sigh of relief, the sphere switched color. Bright light turned to a dim shade. Like a candle fire unable to brace itself against a sudden gust of wind, it flickered shortly and extinguished.

The magic sphere became pitch black in appearance.

"Eh!?" Eleonor was surprised by the change. "Eh!? How did this…..?"

"Eleonor, what's wrong? Is something happens to Fuuma-kun?" Asagi was the first to voice her concern.

"I….I'm not very sure, it was working fine just now. The connection? No, there's nothing wrong with the ritual. Everything is in perfect condition."

"Then why did the sphere change!? What does this means!?" Yukikaze urged.

"Judging by this color, it means that…"

Eleonor couldn't find the right word to describe, as if it was beyond difficult to say it out.

"It means something happened. The Captain…..he's not doing very good at the moment."

Based on the circumstance, she was putting it lightly.

"But the sphere is completely dark." Rinko said. "That bright light represented Fuuma-kun's well-being, did it not?"

"Yes, it did."

And it was gone.

"What is the magic sphere representing now?"

Rinko seemed to catch on the dark elf's thought. She looked somewhat shaken even when the answer has yet to be revealed.

"I'm very sorry." Eleonor truly hoped she wouldn't utter these words. "Mother Nature has never been wrong whenever life is addressed through this ritual."

"Eleonor, it's okay." Saika reassured the dark elf. "Just tell us what happens to the Young Master."

"This pure darkness right here means…..the Captain is no longer…."

Eleonor couldn't finish the sentence.

There was a soft gasp coming from somewhere inside the aircraft.

Knock!

Startled by a strong knock to the door that led to the cockpit, they saw a fierce Maika making her way to the pilot.

"Oi! Can you fly this thing faster!?" Maika shouted. "Our Captain is in danger. We have to hurry!"

"The engine is already running at full speed! I heard what everyone's saying loud and clear!" The pilot shook his head. "But there's nothing else I can do here!"

Asagi slapped her hands together to gather the attention.

"Everyone return to your seat, we will leave this topic at that." She calmly said. "You have been trained for this kind of situation. Prepare yourself for the worst case possible."

Others were in shock by the unexpected twist of event.

"B-But...Master Asagi!" Su spoke up in the spur of moment. "This….this isn't….."

For a moment, Su was at a loss of words. She didn't know what to say anymore.

"That Fuuma! Why is he even going on a vacation alone!? And now this happens to him!" Yukikaze couldn't control her outburst. "I don't believe any of this! He may be the biggest idiot out there but there's no way he would want to involve in a dangerous situation by himself!"

"Yukikaze, don't let emotions get the better of you. Rinko, you too, relax your grip on the sword. There's too much tension in your body." Shiranui advised. "It goes without saying that we still don't know what actually happened to Fuuma-kun. We have to confirm it with our own eyes before a conclusion is drawn."

"However, don't keep your hope up." Murasaki added. "Ready yourself as Asagi-sama said. Something like this is common in the life of a Taimanin, you all knew that already."

The young Task Force members remained quiet as the dark possibility began to weight down their voices. The resounding echo of the engine once again took over the somber atmosphere.

….

Then, Sakura hopped off her seat and went to Eleonor, who was about to end the ritual.

"Hey, Eleonor. Would you mind if I take one more look at the sphere?" Her question broke the gloomy silence.

"Oi, Sakura. We've already put this conversation to rest." Murasaki tried to stop her from dragging out the topic as it would not help the team.

"I know." Sakura replied. However, she won't stop. Her eyes lingered a shred of optimism. "I thought I noticed something glittered. Just needed to check again."

"Something glittered?" Eleonor wondered and looked at the sphere, squinted her eyes. "Hm. Hm? Oh! Yes. I think you are right!"

The dark elf recognized something in that circular pitch-blackness. Her eyes widened in astonishment.

"But it's very small. I can't make out of what it seems to be."

"Alright! In time like these, I call upon the help of technology!" Sakura pulled out a device in her pocket. "Watch out! 'Cause my phone camera has high definition capturing and top quality resolution! Which I totally bought it using my own saving!"

She quickly added the last part as big sis's gaze fell on the back of her neck. Asagi simply let out a sigh and let Sakura continue what she was doing. The younger sister held her phone before the magic sphere, switched on camera mode and zoomed in. On the screen, the glittered source revealed to be a tiny dot of light. It was barely the size of a pixel.

Gasp!

"Fuuma-kun is alive!"

Immediately, Yukikaze, Su and Rinko rushed over. They wanted to see it and Shiranui couldn't help but shrugging her shoulders at their reactions.

"Fufu~, gotta hand it to my vision." Sakura wiped her nose, feeling proud.

"Well. Good work, Sakura. This means we still have a chance to rescue him." Asagi complimented and turned to Eleonor. "What do we know about this?"

"The Captain is in critical condition." The dark elf didn't waste time to state the disheartening fact. "But the light has stopped flickering, this means he managed to hold onto his consciousness in some ways."

Asagi supported her chin with a hand and contemplated. There was really nothing else they can do until then. Whatever happened, she hoped her student was able to flee safely from the danger he was up against.

Only more than two hours left before they reaches the destination.

"Look! It's glowing!" Yukikaze spoke up.

As they watched, the tiny dot began to give out steady glows and grew.

Much to Eleonor's surprise, the new respond returned by the power of Mother Nature went beyond the scope of her understanding. The flow of energy gathered to conduct the ritual exceeded her control. The light became brighter, swallowed up the dark background that had once depicted Kotaro's ill fate, overturning his state of life. Cracks showed along the body of the magic sphere, it couldn't endure the abnormal increase in energy input.

To witness something "outside the book" firsthand, Eleonor had yet to believe the phenomenon in front of her eyes. A question came up among the group, and with her limited knowledge about such an occurrence, Eleonor didn't have the answer to it. However, since a part of this was made by Light Magic, she could come up with a speculation.

"Captain's vitality just received an enormous boost. I don't know what caused it but he has come back to full health, I think."

Light from the magic sphere had grown strong to the point it was blinding their visions.

"Uwah!? This might be a little bit getting out of hand!" Sakura remarked.

Snap!

It shattered. Items used to perform the ritual fell to the floor.

Having not the slightest idea to comprehended, the Task Force members were left stunt and confused in the silence that came afterward.


As the Great Ashen Tree sentenced the Taimanin to death, Kuchiki had carried out his devotion. Thinking the young man had succumbed to his wounds, Kuchiki would have walked away and left him at the hand of natural process.

One moment without looking back, he heard the snap of a bone. Kuchiki turned around only to find out Kotaro was already back on his feet. The young man either forgot about the risk or stopped caring entirely, he fixed the dislocation of the elbow by pushing the joint back into place. It looked hurtful, incredibly torturous just by watching. Yet, not a whimper slipped from that tight lip, not a gasp uttered to ease the pain. Did that young man even feel it?

Kuchiki didn't know what kind of face Kotaro was making. He could hardly see the expression clearly as the whole face damped in red.

But the right eye was watching. It observed the formerly dislocated left arm as Kotaro swung and stretched to test the feel. Then, it would turn back to Kuchiki.

The first time he stared into that thing, Kuchiki had felt the chilling gaze pierced all the way down to his very core.

But now, he wasn't even sure what to think of it.

If blackness actually existed in itself a shade that can be distinguished, he would be able to, perhaps, tell apart the mixture of both and dark in that eye. But neither of it was showing to him, what appeared was another wild visual display. Kuchiki knew he would never be able to perceive it.

The aftermath of Kotaro's Scorch Art was still there, heat from various burning spots dominated the chilling coldness of the underground tunnel. By now, the Great Ashen Tree was whispering to his ears, demanding Kuchiki to once again carry out his duty as its most devoted follower. However, what came out of that eye made him forget about it all.

A vortex. That was what it looked like in Kuchiki's eyes.

The space around that eye was deforming. It distorted half of Kotaro's face and the young man didn't seem to be affected.

"By the Great Ashen Tree, what in the world are you, Fuuma Kotaro?" Kuchiki asked.

He didn't get a respond. Instead, the crimson blade gripping in Kotaro's right hand shone the reflection of a pale face.

Something was wrong.

Kuchiki wasn't sweating at how the atmosphere had become very thick despite there was no tension, not yet. But it was the face, his face, which he saw on the body of that sword. A man in his prime, the avatar of an otherworldly god, recruiter of million devotees and a pseudo-immortal being was expressing a disgustingly terrified look.

Before the Great Ashen Tree's whisper, his instinct was the first thing that yielded. Kuchiki unconsciously showed his fear even though nothing was happening. Against one with fighting spirit, a silent chill was much more threatening.

But he didn't feel the chill. It was just the silence, it was just his voice that broke it.

But he didn't feel anything coming from Kotaro. No killing intent, no pressure, no trace of emotions.

But he was afraid. It was the pure, primitive sharpness that filled the invisible air. It invoked his inner dread without making him realize it.

"Hehe! Damn little rascal!" Kuchiki laughed. He denied that feeling. "This is another one of your ninja tricks, isn't it!? Fine! I believe it's about time to introduce you my favorite devotees!"

At his declaration, the earth began to shake. Wood creatures with various appearances gathered at once.

An ancient centipede broke through the tunnel wall and crawled along it.

A giant serpent poked out its slithering tongue from among the Great Ashen Tree's root and glided towards Kuchiki.

A wood creature with three pairs of arms jumped down from the surface. Its former shell was a demon who wandered into the Great Ashen Tree's dormant.

A large flying bird leaped through the rift above and landed next to the ashen monster.

Another humanoid wood creature appeared, wielding a standard katana. It was the body of the last villager who rebelled against Kuchiki hundred of years prior. He was the rightful owner to the family heirloom. And he was here to demonstrate what Kuchiki deemed as a cruel joke.

They were Kuchiki's favorite vessels.

"The banquet has not yet over! Let us fea-"

In a blink, Kuchiki found himself looking at the world upside-down. Just now, Kotaro had swung the sword while standing a distance away from him. How did the blade reach? It was so quick he didn't manage to follow. He hit the ground next to a pair of feet then realized he had no strength to stand up.

Eh?

Kuchiki's eyes went wide. Was that his body? Why was his body still standing there? Why was he looking at his own vessel? Why didn't his voice come out? Kuchiki couldn't understand.

The body began to lose its footing and fell down. The realization finally struck Kuchiki as he saw the headless vessel. That crimson blade had actually sliced through his head. Kotaro didn't aim for the neck, he went for a slash right between the mouth. It was a strike so well done, so subtle that Kuchiki couldn't feel the impact. Even now, his consciousness had yet to register that the current body was unusable.

The giant serpent bared its fangs and launched at Kotaro. Standing in one spot, he switched to a low stance, sword lowered until the tip barely touched the ground.

One throw of the blade to slice the air from bottom to top, the serpent smashed into the ground next to Kotaro. It didn't miss on purpose, something had changed its trajectory. When Kuchiki finally noticed, deep cuts on its skin appeared to his view. The body of the serpent now collapsed in pieces.

Impossible!? It was just one strike! How did the sword bring down a body that was many time its length!? How could he inflict so many cuts within the span of a second!? Where did he get such speed and strength!?

From within the vortex, an aura leaked out. It changed into the shape of a human, who stood taller than Kotaro's frame, and followed his action. As he deflected the wood creature's katana, it did the same. Kotaro changed his foot work and posture, it mimicked him by holding the sword vertically with both hands. Two existences became one.

[(...)'s Style: Stone Stance]

The katana wielding enemy charged in, Kotaro thrust forward for a piercing strike. However, in the midst of that move, the sharp edge turned downward, piercing posture swapped to a powerful slash and ended the battle not long after it started.

The crimson blade then pointed at Kuchiki – the cut off half of his head. Kotaro and whoever floating behind him knew Kuchiki was still watching.

Kuchiki took in the appearance of that humanoid shape. It had a familiar posture and fighting style, all of it brought back a vivid memory.

Sen…..

Kuchiki wanted to scream. Unfortunately, he only had the consciousness to transfer to another body.

At the heart of the Great Ashen Tree, the pale old man had always remembered the face of his beloved priestess's killer.

"SENKETSU!"

It might not be real, but old man Kuchiki couldn't hardly mistake his sworn nemesis. The legendary blacksmith was right there, in front of his eyes.

This would explain the techniques in the young man's possession.

Between a thousand slashes to cut down an army and one definite strike to dismantle them all, there once existed a sword style that became a myth alongside its creator. The crimson blade's current wielder gained access to that forgotten knowledge, one that should have been on equal footing with the Itto-Ryuu sword style.

[Senketsu's Soul – Synchronized]

Together with the Nameless Evil Eye, the lingering will in the sword made all of this possible.

The next instance Kotaro swung down the crimson blade, old man Kuchiki would cry a painful voice as another part of his mind was destroyed.

Against the one who reached a state of omnipotence, the ashen monster realized he no longer stood a chance.

/


Author's Note: I didn't think I would make the chapter this long. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it.

In exchange for the harshness Kotaro was put through, the right eye continued to unleash its potential when he was almost at dead door. Unlike the Demonic Gate, the Nameless Evil Eye in this story is nothing sort of OP. Its fundamental ability is to simply turn the knowledge Kotaro learned from others into actual abilities which he can use at the expense of his own stamina and strength.

However, the synchronization is something else on a whole new level. It is the state of omnipotence where one's concentration truly reaches its peak. For now, that's all we can know about it. The rest is up to Kotaro to explore.

By the way, if you think about the Nameless Evil Eye, will this ability make Kotaro the most Ideal Supporter?

Let me know what you think about this chapter.

Thank you for reading. Take care!