Yoruichi came rushing through the door and saw Kisuke smiling at her. Sighing in relief, she slowly walked towards him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly as if she was very afraid of losing him.
"This isn't like you," Kisuke muttered in her ear while returning the hug.
Yoruichi tightened the hug and said, "Shut up. This is for both of us. Both of us became cowards."
Kisuke chuckled, "I guess that's true... I wonder how Soifon would react if she saw us like this."
"She'd probably treat us as completely different people. But now that you mentioned that, it seems that you've made up your mind." Yoruichi then released Kisuke while also turning to the door, "Let's talk about that later. For now, you have to entertain them."
From the door, girls that are always with him, were waiting.
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After a few hours, Kisuke managed to get away from the clamoring girls and came to take a break at a certain spire located at the corner of the academy. Before leaving, they finally told him how long he had been out, 'Three days, huh? I recovered pretty fast considering my state this time.'
[Are we finally going 'home'?]
On Benihime's question, Kisuke didn't immediately answer. There were many reasons why he wanted to return even if he's already pronounced dead on that side, but the main reason was probably attachments. He did everything to protect that world even if it cost him his life and knowing that there was still a ticking time bomb waiting to explode, he couldn't sit still.
Another reason is he wanted to know the secrets behind the Hougyoku, not how it was made, but why something like this was allowed to be made if the creator of Souls was carefully watching everything.
And the final big reason, he wanted insurance.
"If I'm going to do it, I have to do it now while we still have time." Kisuke briefly answered Benihime.
[Isn't this another trip to a 'strange' world? Why are you making it sound like it's any different?]
"Because it is different. The fact that it's very similar to the world where we reincarnated makes it very different from your usual travel."
Tiamat didn't really want to get in the conversation but after seeing Benihime's confused expression, she couldn't help but butt in, [If it's a similar world, including the history, language, and culture, it's not a world within this universe. More likely, it's a world from an alternate reality.] Thanks to her experience crossing worlds countless times, her words have some weight behind them. Although she was interested in their 'home' which seemed to be different from where they came from, she's not interested enough to ask.
"What Tiamat said is true. It's similar enough that we won't be able to find it within this universe no matter how much we tried if the multiverse theory is true. If not for the trace that we left behind, I wouldn't be able to find it. And if you think we'll be able to use Le Fay's Teleportation Magic to circumvent the distance and go back and forth, you'd be wrong since the prerequisite of that Magic is to be in the same plane of existence."
"In other words, if I decided to go, I won't be able to return until I'm done with what I have to do and that could mean years, if not decades."
'No wonder... He would jump to an unknown portal without hesitation but not when the destination is known.', Benihime thought to herself but she was still annoyed that Tiamat had to explain it to her. But if she says something, she'll just be giving her what she wanted, a reason to gloat.
Kisuke wanted to think about this decision more but he saw Sona coming from the outside with a worried expression, 'Did something go wrong with the cleanup?' Kisuke thought as he jumped down from the top of the spire to meet her, "Did something happen?"
"You already know the Human woman who came from Fadir Fedora, Sefaira Seraselbes?" Sona asked.
"Yes. Azazel told me about her existence. What about her?"
Sona shook her head, "No. Let me rephrase it. When did you meet her?"
Kisuke furrowed his brows and answered, "Never... As far as I'm concerned."
"I see." Sona thought about it for a moment before continuing, "I don't really know how to deal with this but Sefaira Seraselbes is insisting on speaking with you privately."
"...Why?"
"No one knows. Even those watching after her are having a hard time because she's apparently quite desperate. Normally, I'd dismiss something like this and investigate the person in question thoroughly but after talking to her, it seems to be quite important that she meet you and that's why I asked you if you already met her on any other occasion."
'Seraselbes... That's the only connection I have on that side. The fact that she's trying to contact me recklessly like this...' Kisuke thought about the friend who saved him from the darkness and immediately asked Sona, "Do you have her on the line?"
Sona nodded and gave him the transmitter that's already connected on the other side.
Kisuke picked it up and didn't mind Sona's presence. Soon, a black-haired woman with green eyes came up. After confirming Kisuke's appearance, the woman immediately said, [Please save the daughter of shadow.]
Kisuke didn't need to hear more and directly disconnected the transmitter while turning to the shocked and confused Sona, "Sona, led me a bit of your Demonic Power. I'm still recovering so I'd like to save as much stamina as possible."
Sona saw Kisuke preparing a Teleportation Magic and asked, "Are you going to be fine alone?"
"I'm already taking a big risk with just me going. I don't want to complicate things more than they should have." All of a sudden, a headache struck Kisuke as if he just received a heavy blunt on his temple, "Urrgg.."
"What's wrong!? Is it the sequelae?"
Kisuke raised his hand to signal that he was fine, "I'm alright. It's just a sign that I have to hurry."
Sona sighed and she helped Kisuke powering the Teleportation Magic he's preparing, "Please be careful. And do tell me what's going on once you're back home."
Kisuke patted her head and gave her a small smile, "Thanks and I will."
A few seconds later, Kisuke disappeared and soon, people started coming to the spot where Sona was standing to ask her what was going on.
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Stralit doesn't know how long she has been running within this network of tunnels under the surface of the planet nor she doesn't have any energy to count such a useless thing. What's important for her right now is the number of enemies approaching her and the capsule that still contained the sleeping beauty.
With all the dirt, grime, and tattered clothes on her, even her closest friend wouldn't be able to recognize her for a few seconds of meeting her.
And more importantly, she was already beyond her limit. After the failed attempt of waking up 'John Smith' from his deep slumber, she has been severely depleted due to the weird occurrence where she saved an unknown man that looked like her little friend.
Stralit wanted to leave him in some corner where he wouldn't be found and hope that he'd wake up before someone found him, but because of that instance, he was currently emitting heavy traces of her own energy.
Even then, she was not regretting what she had done as she had just followed the principle of her clan which is treasuring their successors.
'My brother must be looking for me since he'd figured out that they are lying about me... But without any evidence or leads, he won't be able to confront them and could only look for me in secret.'
But while thinking of a way out of this predicament, Stralit suddenly felt something running through her stomach and when she looked down, she saw an iron spear sticking out of her belly, '...Huh?'
The iron spear then left the way it went in and due to its barbed tip, it hooked some flesh and innards.
The sudden pain made Starlit lose her posture and ended up tossing what she was holding as she fell forward, "Ugh!!!"
She hurriedly looked back and saw a familiar man with a nasty smile emerging from the ceiling of the tunnel, "Found you~!"
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AN Sept. 03, 2023:
And thus the end of Volume 15. I hope you enjoyed it. The next volume/arc will be another world transfer and after all the clues I dropped through various chapters, I think you guys already know where we are going next. Please look forward to it~!
If you liked my work, please consider supporting me through pat reon . com/ goyya00 and get access to advance chapters.
Thank you very much.
Have a good day~!