It would seem that the Sea of Life has finally finished 'constructing' Kisuke's 'children' as two more of them came rushing out.
Different from the previous ones, they didn't engage with the insects and directly carved their way towards the hiding leader, Ichibei.
"That's Aika and Riveria? They're directly going to Ichibei even though I didn't tell them to?" Kisuke asked loudly.
Tiamat also observed the situation before answering, [Their motivations are mostly influenced by your state of mind so when you tried to fish out that guy earlier, it's the same as them receiving the 'command' of attacking that guy. It's also the reason why the previous three tried protecting the first one.]
"That means I should control my rage and not get angry at random things, huh?"
[You? If it's you from before, nothing would be able to influence your state of mind. Now, however, you'll go ballistic if your precious family members are hurt. Thankfully, none of them are here right now.] Benihime also added with a teasing tone.
"Oh, looks like you finally have time to ease up. Have you gotten used to it?"
[Yep. It turned out to be easier than I thought, modifying the 'Shadow', that is.] Benihime replied, full of confidence, [It's a much simpler ability than I initially thought. I can now understand how you were able to pull off this form, though it's still pretty much a fluke that you got it right.]
"I told you it's very much possible, right? I just had to put my mind to it and it'll work out."
[You probably already have an idea what you want me to use this for, don't you?]
Kisuke became silent for a moment to finalize his thoughts before nodding, "Yes. I don't know if Hyousube has realized it yet, but the most threatening thing for us are his abilities as a Shinigami.
"Thanks to me achieving this form through my fusion with my Zanpakuto, he's thinking that this is a Shinigami ability, and right now, he's contesting us with Magic and numbers because he's probably thinking that this is the way to counter me.
"Nevertheless, it won't take long for him to figure out that I'm still no match for him as a Shinigami and he will soon utilize this advantage."
[If you're worried about his naming ability, then don't bother.] Tiamat chimed in, even with a bit of pride radiating from her voice [The current situation is that you are me and I am you. As long as the Sea of Life exists, you and I will persist. Not even death will be able to claim my authority.]
"Unless, of course, it was cleverly and patiently taken away from you."
At that moment, Tiamat instantly shut her mouth.
Surprisingly, Benihime felt bad for her and pushed the topic forward, [It doesn't sound like you're worried about the naming thing if you can poke fun at her.]
"Naturally. It's one of the reasons why I'm keeping the ink on my back. I could just let it propagate and render another naming instance ineffective. What I'm wary of, however, was his authority over 'Black'. All of the color black from all beings, dead or alive, becomes his power.
"He last used it against Yhwach, but Yhwach was technically the Soul King at that point so that didn't work on him. Although when Yhwach tried stealing that power from him, it also didn't work since he just gathered all the 'Black' back from all the other sources."
"When he faced Ophis-chan, he didn't use it because he realized how he was going to fuck himself over if he tried absorbing her powers."
Benihime immediately found the implication from Kisuke's words, [...You're stealing his Reiryoku through 'Shadow'.]
"Yes."
[And technically, 'Shadow' is black.]
"Also correct."
[Then the moment he used his authority over 'Black'...]
Kisuke smiled widely before replying, "We're basically fucked. The moment he absorbs the 'Shadow', I also won't be able to maintain this form."
Kisuke could hear Benihime audibly sigh in his head, [And the fact that he doesn't notice that something is being sapped out of him proves that he has a reserve that doesn't know the end. So what's the strategy here?]
"I've said it, right? The abilities on the level of an authority could be claimed if cleverly and patiently done." Kisuke then looked down on the black mud gushing out of his feet, "And it just so happens that we have the right blueprint to make that happen."
After considering all of his options, Kisuke opted to deal with Ichibei's 'Black' and the way he planned to do it is how Chaos attempted to steal Tiamat's powers.
"Most likely, the moment he uses that ability of his, he'll also absorb the color of this Sea of Life."
Too bad for him, the Sea of Life isn't just 'Black', but also 'Chaotic'.
Tiamat understood at the same time and exclaimed, [I see... You wanted to taint his ability.]
Kisuke didn't confirm Tiamat's guess but he also grinned while muttering, "I wonder which one is a bigger glutton? Black or Chaos?"
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.
Half an hour has passed and the 'children' are doing their best to reduce the insects' number, but instead of going down, Kisuke has noticed that their numbers only increased. 'Aika' and 'Riveria' who are hacking away in the middle of the crowd in an attempt to find Ichibei have not resulted in anything and their target still completely eluded them.
"Say... There are only 8 of them out there. Where are the remaining three?"
[You already have an idea under what criteria the children are born so you probably won't be able to summon all 11 if that criteria isn't met.] Tiamat immediately answered, [Nevertheless, I still know three people that could appear so that would mean that the Sea of Life is having a hard time making them a reality.]
"...Why though?" Kisuke was surprised. Although he knew who else was about to come out, he was also confused why they hadn't come out yet.
[Hmmm... Maybe that's the case.] Tiamat muttered to herself before addressing Kisuke, [Direct more power to the Sea of Life.]
Kisuke wondered what Tiamat was talking about, but all he got was the instinctual use of her ability and didn't really understand its inner workings so he could only listen to her.
Before he proceeded to do that, however, he commended his 'children' to retreat and assume a defensive stance. This is because he has been allocating power to them so that they could continue fighting.
After the 'children' managed to get an adequate space for themselves, Kisuke poured more of the Reiryoku he had been stealing from Ichibei into the Sea of Life and even increasing his rate of absorption, 'He might finally notice, but with him hiding, I think it's about time to raise the stakes.'
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.
.
Ichibei, deep within the earth, has been 'eating' everything that was available for him through his beloved minions when he felt something being drained from him, "Hmm!?"
He immediately opened his eyes wide and traced where the drained Reiryoku was going and found that it was going in Kisuke's direction. Seeing this, he grinned wildly, "I see. So that's how it is. I was being wary over nothing."