Chapter 23: The distant past
Everything before my eyes was absurd and weird.
The two little heads in the glass jar let out strange laughter, and I suddenly felt a huge pressure. I was forced to kneel on the ground, and subconsciously supported the ground with my hands.
"Look."
"If you increase your reiatsu even slightly, you'll be as immobilized as any other human."
"Although he is not much different from the person in Mizuzawa Longyue's memory, he is probably not the same person."
“What…what are you talking about…?”
"Don't listen to that guy."
Jinghua beside me was also half-kneeling on the ground. Her face was pale, but she still stretched out her hands to protect me behind her.
"Run, Homura, run!"
My head hurt so much that it felt like it was about to split. Longyue's voice, appearance and smile kept flashing before my eyes, but I had no impression of the strange-looking man in front of me.
"You...what did you do to Longyue?!"
"We didn't do anything to her."
"This is only a manifestation of our ability. Among the wreckage we devoured, there are the remains of the spirit of the Death God, Mizuzawa Halozuki."
"By devouring her, we inherited her memories and abilities."
What the hell? Relics? Death? What is this guy talking about?!
"Originally, she came to the human world just to experiment with her abilities and capture the souls of those with special abilities."
"Who knew, but I saw you. The same girl as in Mizusawa Oborozuki's memory."
"Yamamoto Homura."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Although your last name and hair color are completely different, your face and even your Reiatsu are exactly the same as hers."
"We want to test whether you are that person. If so, eliminating you will prevent future trouble.
"But now it seems that we thought too much."
He slowly began to walk towards us, step by step, from the sunlit area. The moment the shadows covered the glass jars holding the two heads, they gradually twisted, and Long Yue's face reappeared.
"Yamamoto Homura is dead. You are now just another existence that has inherited some of her spiritual remains."
“Yasha Shirayuki——!!”
"it's useless."
In a split second, Aronilor appeared between me and Jinghua. I only had time to see Yasha Baixue's body dissipate before a hand like an iron clamp clamped around my neck!
...I can’t breathe!!!
"Even though you inherited some of my memories, your speed and physical strength are still inferior to the human next to you. You're truly pathetic."
"Let go—ugh!"
Everything in front of my eyes was blurry, and something warm splashed on my face.
"Little Mirror Flower——!!!"
Atsu-kun's screams even drowned out the buzzing sound caused by tinnitus. I struggled hard and opened my eyes, but I only saw the man in white and the bloody knife in his hand.
"Oh? You're such a strong kid. You didn't even scream even when you were hurt."
What is he talking about?
"Actually, there were some mistakes in what you said about Mizuze Longyue."
Where is Jinghua? Where is she?
"You said she 'would never say such a thing', but that's not true. She's actually deeply jealous and terrified of her best friend, to the point where she can't stand him making new friends!"
Aaronilo's feet moved, I heard a small scream, and a red figure appeared in my sight.
It’s Kyoka Izumi, the girl who has always protected me.
There was a sound of something breaking next to my ears.
-------------------------------------
“Ah…Ah ...
Nakajima Atsushi heard a heart-wrenching scream, and the girl who was being strangled by the neck and lifted in the air suddenly erupted with huge flames around her!
In just a moment, a heat wave swept in and flames filled the space between her and the monster.
"What……?!"
The strange monster in white clothes let go of his hand in surprise, but the flames still wrapped around his arm, and in an instant, his arm turned into black charcoal!
The flames soared and leaped, continuously emanating from the girl's body, gradually devouring everything around her, and even rushing towards the girl in red who fell to the ground and was unconscious.
"Little Mirror Flower——!"
“Rashomon!!”
The black cloth suddenly wrapped around Izumi Kyoka's body, and at the same time, Akutagawa Ryunosuke appeared next to Nakajima Atsushi.
"Now is not the time to be in a daze! Back off!"
Holding his unconscious companion in his arms, Nakajima Atsushi transformed into a half-human, half-tiger creature, and together with the young man in black beside him, he quickly retreated to a place out of reach of the flames.
But that is only temporary.
The flames turned into a winding giant snake, greedily devouring everything.
“Ha…hahahaha…hahahahahaha!!!”
However, at this moment, the monster who called himself Aronilo burst into laughter.
"Surely, there's such a thing! Unbelievable! You're actually still alive, Yamamoto Homura!"
Even in the midst of danger, Atsushi still frowned. From the moment on, neither he, Akutagawa, nor even Kyoka could understand the monster's nonsense, but there was one thing he was certain of.
The red-haired girl's surname should be Jiu Jing. Even her father's surname is "Hongo", which has nothing to do with "Yamamoto".
"No, we can't stay here any longer!" The Rashomon blocked some of the flames, but it couldn't block the heat. Akutagawa frowned. The fire was still spreading. They had to leave this place as soon as possible.
"What can you do now? You are no longer the God of Death, can you defeat me?!"
However, in the fire, the monster with someone else's appearance showed no fear at all, but instead raised the Japanese sword in his hand.
The flames kept jumping as if provoked by him.
The heat wave hit them, but at this moment, Akutagawa Ryunosuke and Nakajima Atsushi both felt a chill.
"I'm going to... kill you...!"
The girl, surrounded by flames, knelt on one knee. Her voice was hoarse and filled with murderous intent.
"Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable!!!"
As her mumbling became increasingly frantic, the flames seemed to come alive, enveloping the two of them.
"Turn into ashes!!"
The girl's red hair danced, instantly merging with the flames. Then, she stretched out her hand, letting it be consumed by the flames.
"ah……!"
Before Nakajima Atsushi could call out the girl's name, a strange scene happened.
A long black sword emerged from the flames.
The girl's fair hands gripped the hilt of the knife tightly and pulled it out of the burning flames!
-------------------------------------
It's so hot.
It’s so hot, so hot, there’s fire all around.
Anger washed over me as I stared at the monster in front of me, my clenched teeth chattering.
Kill him—
We must kill him! Chop this bastard who hurt everyone into pieces and burn him to ashes!
When I came to my senses, a strange Japanese sword appeared before my eyes. It appeared silently in the flames wrapped around my hand, but the moment I grasped the hilt, a deep voice rang out in my mind:
【Call it.】
[Calling, my name——]
If you want to gain power.
By the way, this knife has a name.
Yamamoto Homura, this was my former name. And its name is——
"Wake up, Kagutsuchi."
-------------------------------------
Following the girl's whisper, the disorderly burning flames suddenly seemed to come alive and retreated from around the warehouse.
However, the circle of fire between her and the man in white did not disappear.
"Oh? You pulled your Zanpakutō out of the flames? As expected of you, the former Fourth Seat of the Tenth Division." Aaronilo smiled and raised his own sword. "Emerge, Mirage."
In an instant, the blade turned into a large amount of water vapor, filling the entire space.
"Speaking of which, Mizuze Longyue is afraid of you because your abilities are very incompatible."
Mirage, as a water-type Zanpakutō, uses water vapor to refract light, creating convincing illusions. However, Yamamoto Homura's Zanpakutō is a true flame-type Zanpakutō.
"It was because of this ability that the captain noticed you and adopted you, right?"
As an Espada, Aaronilo didn't care about the weak Death God Chief, but the one in front of him was different.
She is the captain of the Gotei 13 and the closed disciple of the old man that even Aizen is afraid of.
"When you were at the Spiritual Arts Academy, you were just an unknown orphan from Rukongai. However, because of this ability, you were valued by the captain-in-chief and even became his closed disciple and adopted son... You are truly lucky."
"...Good luck?" However, the red-haired girl looked at him expressionlessly. "Do you really think so?"
As soon as she finished speaking, her figure disappeared from the spot.
The water vapor instantly rose up and turned into a translucent blade. Aaronilo blocked it with his backhand, and the hot black blade was only a few centimeters away from his face.
The girl gripped the hilt of the knife tightly with both hands and exerted great force. Flames wrapped around the black blade, instantly evaporating the water vapor that served as a barrier!
"Shui Ze Long Yue" was unable to dodge, and even after barely avoiding it, the hot blade still cut his shoulder.
The man, still essentially a Hollow, smacked his lips. He had initially thought that since she had just regained her memory, she wouldn't be a threat. But he hadn't expected the flames surrounding her to be so overbearing, not only impossible to extinguish, but also incredibly restraining Mizuze Longyue's abilities.
"You chopped it off without hesitation, you." Drawing on the dead man's memories, voice, and even face, he used his new arm to tear open the still-flaming shoulder without hesitation, laughing maliciously. "That's how you decapitate your best friend, right?"
However, this time, his calculations were wrong.
-------------------------------------
"So what?"
I looked at the face of Longyue in front of me, and my mind became clear.
No matter how she thought of me, she never distanced herself from me. In the end, she even fought for control of her body with the Hollow that had invaded her, just to give me a chance to fight back.
"That's her resolution." I gripped the hilt with both hands and thrust it forward, forcing the opponent into the front of the fire circle. "And you are just a despicable fellow!"
He was a despicable person who stole her memory abilities and even used them for evil purposes. What a hateful Hollow!!
His body was very light, and his movements slowed down a lot in my eyes. I could even see the way he swung his sword and even predict the timing of his next attack.
What? Although I don’t know why the other party is suppressing his spiritual power, this guy is much weaker than that old man in my family.
I poured spiritual power into my feet, used instant steps, jumped up, and swung the knife in my hand fiercely!
Mirage's water blade was completely powerless in the face of Kagutsuchi's flames. This was the result of countless times of training between us.
The blade cut through the transparent water and then hit something that felt very hard. I saw "Longyue" showing a painful expression, and the familiar face then twisted.
Great! The attack worked!
In the circle of fire, even if he tried to escape, it would be futile. I mobilized my spiritual power, transforming the flames into a long dragon, rushing straight at him. At the same time, I used instant step again and appeared behind him.
He is hollow and regenerates very quickly. In that case, let's try destroying the glass tank that looks like a head!
The blade was about to touch the opponent's cheek, but at this moment, the lungs were suddenly poked as if by a stick!
There was a sharp pain in my arm and I could even see blood spurting out from all over the joint.
"oh?"
My abdomen was hit hard, and a fishy and sweet feeling came over me instantly. I was surrounded by a feeling of weightlessness and flew out!
My whole body was in great pain. I gritted my teeth and thrust the knife into my back with all my strength.
My back hit the hard wall hard, and the fishy-sweet feeling in my throat could no longer be suppressed. I opened my mouth and coughed violently, and my nostrils were filled with the smell of rust.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?"
The clothes on the chest were soaked with blood, and everything in front of him was blood red.
"Although you have awakened spiritual power and the power of the god of death, your flesh and blood body cannot bear this power. How dare you try to fight us without even knowing this? But... ahem, you did hurt us. You are worthy of being Captain Yamamoto's disciple."
That Xu stood before me. Long Yue's figure had long since vanished. The flames had burned his body, turning his limbs to a charred charcoal. A mark remained on his chest, where I had cut him. I knew that invisible heat was eating away at the wound.
"Hmph, I'll admit your strength for now, Death God. But unfortunately, you will die here."
My hands no longer had the strength to hold the knife handle, and I felt my body gradually sliding down the wall.
Absolutely not, he can't be allowed to attack anyone else! If I die, he will definitely go after those people with special abilities.
Kagamika...Dun...!
I subconsciously grabbed the hilt of the knife, but I couldn't control my falling body.
However, the pain did not come as expected.
I fell into a warm embrace.
“Who is it?!”
Aronilo's voice became somewhat distant, and through the thick smell of blood, I smelled a strange odor.
A faint scent of thread mixed with a hint of ink.
"……Fool……"
This voice is so familiar, so familiar that I almost cry.
Oh, I haven't apologized yet.
You have to apologize to him.
I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Toushirou... I—
Consciousness ends here.
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Yes, the heroine is actually the Grim Reaper. I can't help it, I just like this old-fashioned setting! I also like childhood sweethearts very much!
But now Xiaobai and Yan are both childhood sweethearts and they are also godsends, hahahahaha!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
