Clang...
A beautiful and resonant sound echoed as Yu Mikami's persistent strikes finally broke the chain binding his right hand.
"No, if I continue like this, breaking two soul chains will deplete my transcendence lightning," Yu Mikami mused with a frown. He named the pitch-black chains "soul chains," which were chains designed to bind a person's soul.
Throughout his attempts to shatter the soul chains, Yu Mikami discovered that the dark red lightning was ineffective against them; only the transcendence lightning within his body could damage the chains. However, breaking just one chain consumed half of his precious transcendence lightning.
"Damn it! How can I escape this damn place?"
Reluctant to use the remaining transcendence lightning on the other soul chains, Yu Mikami set aside the five-meter-long broken chain and fell deep into thought...
In the Human World, Karakura Town!
"Ichigo! No..."
Kurosaki Masaki cried out in shock as she saw her nine-year-old son Ichigo running towards the Hollow by the river. Desperate to protect him, she rushed over without a second thought.
Crack boom...
As Kurosaki Masaki dashed forward, a clap of thunder boomed from the sky, and a dark red lightning bolt tore through the sky, striking the spot where she had been standing moments before!
"Haha! Didn't expect to find a beautiful soul here, I guess I'll have to let the little kid go..."
The Hollow, initially intent on devouring Ichigo's soul, shifted its attack to Kurosaki Masaki as soon as it realized she could see him.
With a spurt of blood, Kurosaki Masaki fell into a pool of her own blood, clutching Ichigo even in her final moments.
At the distant point where lightning struck, Yu Mikami's figure appeared. He had not anticipated that upon breaking free from Hell, he would witness the murder of Ichigo's mother.
"Dammit! Such a beautiful woman wasted by you!"
Yu Mikami roared internally. In a flash, he appeared beside the Hollow. Just as it was about to consume Kurosaki Masaki's soul, Yu Mikami slashed at its mask with his blade.
A dark red glint of the blade and a crack later, the Hollow's mask split in two, revealing a terrified, grotesque middle-aged man's face beneath.
"Aah... no... damn it..."
Even as it died, the Hollow hadn't expected to be slain mid-meal and regretted its carelessness too late, vanishing into the air.
Yu Mikami, unadorned save for the Soul Chains wrapped around him, turned to look at the fallen Kurosaki Masaki and Ichigo.
"Are you a Shinigami? Please, help me!"
A sweet voice called out, and Yu Mikami saw Kurosaki Masaki's soul appear before him.
With golden curls, delicate features, a petite nose, and softly seductive lips, Yu Mikami couldn't help but react physically to the sight.
"Ah... you're not a Shinigami..."
Spotting the Hollow hole in Yu Mikami's chest, Kurosaki Masaki gasped, eyes wide with shock. A Hollow couldn't be a king among Hollows, could it? Alarmed and unnerved, she hesitated to flee with Ichigo cradled beneath her.
Observing the absence of a Chain of Causality on Kurosaki Masaki's chest, Yu Mikami's mind raced through information, confirming his suspicion that Kurosaki Masaki was not an ordinary human—the body on the ground was likely a gigai.
"Soul Chains!"
Yu Mikami commanded in a low voice. Regardless of Kurosaki Masaki's identity, Yu Mikami needed to capture her, whether it was out of a desire to possess her or to prevent changing the storyline. Yu Mikami would not let Kurosaki Masaki return!
The Soul Chains entwined around Yu Mikami flew off his body as he finished speaking, instantly binding Kurosaki Masaki, wrapping around her wrists and ankles!
Under Yu Mikami's deliberate control, the Soul Chains wound just below Kurosaki Masaki's chest, perfectly accentuating her prominent bosom! At a glance, even Yu Mikami felt breathless; it was so enticing!
Having fused with Arisawa Shirou's soul and undergone the tempering of the Dark Red Lightning, Yu Mikami had long become someone with an overwhelmingly strong desire for possession!
"What is this?"
An expression of utter shock appeared in Kurosaki Masaki's beautiful eyes, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing! The Soul Chains seemed to have some ability that made Kurosaki realize that Yu Mikami was not the king, and that the Hollow mask was completely absent, which was even more shocking!
"What are you going to do?"
Kurosaki Masaki then coldly shouted at Yu Mikami. Even in her cold demeanor, her beauty was incomparable; she now hoped that Urahara would notice what was happening here and quickly come to rescue her, as Ichigo had not yet regained his Shinigami powers!
"I can give you my soul, but you have to let my son go!"
Before anyone could come to her rescue, Kurosaki Masaki's first thought was to prevent Yu Mikami from harming her son!
"Hehe! Don't worry! I won't do anything to your son!"
Yu Mikami gave a wicked smile. After being tormented in the Dark Thunder Prison for so many years, the desires pent up within Yu Mikami had long reached the brink of eruption. All Yu Mikami wanted now was to pin Kurosaki Masaki beneath him!
Hearing Yu Mikami's words, Kurosaki Masaki immediately felt elated, unable to suppress her smile. Could it be that the Hollow before her wasn't bad after all? However, just as Kurosaki Masaki was about to thank Yu Mikami, his next words left her utterly ashamed and angry!
"I just got you first, so I can vent a little! Hehe!"
Yu Mikami laughed, looking curiously at the nine-year-old Ichigo, the male protagonist from the original story!
"Hey hey! Ichigo, I won't be polite and will take your mother away to enjoy!"
Yu Mikami chuckled lewdly in his heart, grabbing the other end of the Soul Chains, ready to take Kurosaki Masaki away!
"Stop! Who are you? How can you be naked in broad daylight?!"
A man's loud shout suddenly echoed, and Yu Mikami turned to see an ordinary-looking middle-aged Shinigami rapidly approaching him from behind!
"Shinigami?"
Yu Mikami frowned slightly, knowing he couldn't delay here for too long. Urahara and the others might arrive soon, and Yu Mikami wasn't their match at the moment!
"If you don't want to die, get out of my way!"
Without hiding his killing intent, Yu Mikami turned coldly to the middle-aged Shinigami, releasing a surge of Reiatsu!
Buzz—Yu Mikami's release of Reiatsu was not large, but it resonated through all of Karakura Town, immediately sensed by Urahara and others at Urahara's shop!
"What is this..."
Urahara's closed eyes opened, a flash of shocked confusion in their depths. Yu Mikami's Reiatsu was something he had never encountered before!
"Is it a Shinigami or a Hollow?"
Urahara couldn't determine whether Yu Mikami was a Shinigami or a Hollow from his Reiatsu. "Could it be a Bount?"
Regardless of what it was, Urahara immediately stood up and hurried to where Yu Mikami was, having also sensed Kurosaki Masaki's Reiatsu there!
"Dammit! Masaki, you can't get hurt!"
Even though his Shinigami powers hadn't returned, Kurosaki Isshin could sense the sudden, unfamiliar Reiatsu in the air and noticed his wife was there, swiftly rushing to the scene!
"How... how is this possible..."
The middle-aged Shinigami looked at Yu Mikami with astonishment, not because of Yu Mikami's Reiatsu, as it was only about the level of a Seated Officer, but because he was shocked to see the Hollow hole in Yu Mikami's chest...