A yellow star lit up the sky.
When it fell, it took the form of Darkrai — the Mythical Pokemon.
The moment the devoured soul came into being, its eyes, glowing red, landed on the black figure with white eyes and hair with blinding white patterns swirling here and there on its body.
In the very next moment, though, a BANG resounded, the Pokemon getting knocked away into the distance.
Darkrai landed where Kai was half-buried in the earth, crashed right into him, and they both bounced off each other like two balls knocked together.
"This… is…" the Pokemon hissed, grabbing its head, its eyes bleeding. "I… I couldn't sense anything…"
Before Darkrai could further explain how it had failed to induce Nightmare, and met nothing but still darkness within the target's mind, a fist landed on its head.
Like golden fireworks, the Mythical Pokemon exploded into a shower of light.
The Eon Soul Dew (Corrupt) automatically returned to Kai's inventory.
Akaza looked at him, then.
Kai's pristine white clothes were tattered. Despite the monstrous regeneration, his skin was barely visible between the lacerations. From behind, a black mass kept trying to become one with its host. However, every time Venom was about to enter his body and give him the direly needed buff, Akaza would flick his finger, sending the creature flying back.
"What… happened to you?" Shura Yukihanabi asked. "Where is the Kai I so admired? What is all this… buffoonery? Where is Kai Stormborn?!"
Kai lifted his head and met Akaza's bulbous, white eyes.
Crest Worms, scattered all around him, kept crawling towards him before fusing into his body.
In the next moment, he would cough up blood, vomiting it back up.
Akaza's first punch had smacked the Fiend out of him instantly.
However, Fiend was an exceptional trump card only when Kai immediately paired it with an equally powerful offense, taking advantage of his Regeneration Rate.
It was never meant to turn him into a punching bag.
Akaza, surprised and excited by how much beating Kai could take, had pounced upon him like a hungry beast lusting for blood.
But, despite the massive boost in HP Fiend granted, it was bound to fall eventually.
And the worst thing about Fiend was… it had a Countdown.
Akaza lifted his fist as Kai kept staring at him.
Almost instantly, from the other side, thousands of ghostly blades came for him.
Black and white Reiatsu swirled around Akaza's fists as his hands blurred, effortlessly parrying and deflecting every single one of them.
Then, making even the Zanpakuto raise his brows, the parried and deflected spiritual blades stopped midair and returned, tracing a different path, faster than before.
"An attack that learns by itself?" Akaza noticed, praising. "Not bad."
Mang Jian, wielding his Blade of Null and… using it as a stick, staggered into view from the other side. His back was hunched as if he had aged a thousand years in the last few moments. Blood kept dripping from his eyes, ears, and nose, his lips sealed shut as he held onto what remained of it within.
Thought Mutilation.
Spectral Sword Halo.
Ancestral Sword Resonance.
Three Forms of Severance Style…
There was not a single Low to High-level 12th Floor Contestant that Mang Jian couldn't take down using these three together.
If it hadn't been for Kai's special mind, then he would have died right after facing this combination as well.
But that could be said about all of his moves when it came to Kai.
What about Akaza?
He didn't have a mind like Kai's, Mang Jian believed…hoped.
How was Akaza surviving all his thoughts getting mutilated and his intents getting severed?
It was as if…
"Arghhh…" Mang Jian growled. The blood that he had been trying to keep within came pouring out like a river, pooling beneath and over his feet. "You… You don't have a… Source!"
Akaza paused.
Kai looked at the Zanpakuto, stunned.
Everything alive had a Source — an imprint on the Vast Cosmos, unique to that existence.
There was no going around it.
It was ABSOLUTE.
Then…
"Haha…" Akaza laughed. "I don't know what you mean by Source, but… if it is what I think it is, then… I do have it. It's you who cannot sense it anymore."
Mang Jian stopped on his broken path.
He could not sense the Source?
Didn't it mean…
Mang Jian's bloody face snapped toward Kai. "You… told… me…" he spoke word by word. "… that this world… cannot have… a Storyline Character… of a level equivalent to 15th Floor…"
The thousands of Spiritual Blades disappeared.
Akaza looked between blank-faced Kai and bloodied Mang Jian and… sighed, shaking his head in utter, obvious disappointment.
Then, without saying anything, he casually turned around and began walking away.
"Stop…" Kai hissed, contemplating whether he should bring Black out. "Where are you going?"
Akaza didn't stop. "I have nothing to do with the conflict between you and demons anymore," he said, walking. "Also… I don't listen to the weak."
Weak…
The word cut right through Kai, leaving no chance of regeneration.
"You are making a mistake!" he roared. "Let me show you how vast the world is! You want to fight the strong, right? Let me show you what true strength means! This world… This world is a speck of dust! I…"
Kai's heart was pounding, System's Warnings bloodying his eyes.
If he could somehow convince Akaza to be a member of his Clan, especially now that he had a Breathing Style and could technically be called a Demon Slayer, then…
Akaza finally stopped.
He looked over his shoulder, frowning.
"Selfless Breathing is what defines you, Kai," the Zanpakuto said. "You… cannot have everything. No wonder you haven't achieved Bankai yet. Because your Attitude, though correct, is… lacking."
Silence.
Lying on the ground, stunned, Kai stared as Akaza resumed his walk.
"… where are you going?" he asked, mumbling. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
"Haha!" Akaza laughed, lifting his hand and pointing straight ahead. "Isn't that obvious? I am going in that direction…
"… to live an honest life."