Chapter 1297 Escape?

Ichibei made a shocked expression when he saw Kisuke transform once again and hurriedly put both of his hands in front of him.

The next instant, an image of yin-yang appeared, covering his body, "Ura Bakudou! The Great Way!"

It was another unknown Kidou that Ichibei pulled out. Nevertheless, Kisuke couldn't care less. His only goal is to cut him down. While pulling Benihime, he arrived in front of Ichibei. Kisuke raised his blade and gritted his teeth.

He didn't want to do anything fanciful, just a simple single downward slash with all of his remaining strength.

Ichibei could see Kisuke's transformed body creaking and cracking from the pressure alone.

The yin-yang barrier in front of him shined brightly to an almost blinding degree, however, Kisuke ignored this and moved forward, bringing forth his, hopefully, last strike.

His darkened blade instantly made contact with the barrier and Kisuke immediately figured out what exactly it did as little pieces of body were being blown away with the force of his sword being reflected back to him. Still, he pushed forward. Thanks to the simplicity of his strike, even most of the force being reflected back is being cut and deflected away from him.

A quarter of a second after the strike connected, a small crack appeared on the barrier. A fifth of a second later, Kisuke's blade went through the crack. Then an eighth of a second more, Kisuke's strike went through the barrier, along with its owner, bisecting them into two equal parts.

The yin-yang barrier bursts and Ichibei's body started drifting away from each other.

But instead of despair, both of Ichibei's half faces twisted into gruesome smiles, "!?"

Kisuke hurriedly retreated, further pushing his body to its limits. However, he couldn't get away.

Ichibei's bisected body liquified and turned into a pool of black ink before it shot out, not towards Kisuke, but to his beloved blade, merging with it.

Kisuke tried swinging his blade in an attempt to flush away the ink but the blade absorbed it like a dry sponge. The next instant, the ink was gone and only Ichibei's resounding voice was left behind, [Until we meet again, Urahara Kisuke.]

That cold message almost sent Kisuke into a downward spiral but he managed to keep himself calm and closed his eyes. While Ichibei seems to be on the verge of escaping, he still trusts Benihime.

Within his inner world, the already dark surroundings became even darker because the blood-filled world was instead filled with ink, and even the majestic red castle was painted jet-black. He looked around but aside from Ichibei's lingering aura, he couldn't find the man himself.

Thankfully, Benihime was present this time and standing not far from him. Her usual red kimono was dyed black but Kisuke was confident that she was still the Benihime he knew, "So... What's next?"

Benihime was facing away from him so he doesn't know what sort of expression she's making right now. She looked up and Kisuke also followed her gaze towards the tip of the castle. There he saw a very thin black string, "To chase after him." Benihime replied.

Kisuke turned his sights towards her again. He started walking forward until they were standing side by side and he could see her side profile. It was when he saw the nasty grin she was making that Kisuke finally felt relieved and sighed, "...What did you do?"

"I opened a path and he happily jumped into it." Benihime then turned to Kisuke, "Your frustrated face must have been very appealing that he didn't even doubt it."

Kisuke's eyes widened and he finally understood why Benihime was unresponsive all this time, "So you used me as bait."

"As the saying goes, deceive your friends before deceiving your enemy." Benihime began walking towards the castle, creating small waves on the ink beneath her legs, "You understand why I wanted him to leave, yes?"

"Because there's no way to cleanly and surely finish him off when he's literally surrounded by his body parts. If we can isolate him somewhere, it'll be a lot easier to erase his consciousness.", Kisuke replied before pausing for a bit and asking, "But where did you lead him?"

Benihime stopped walking and answered, "To your dear 'Master'."

Kisuke was stunned. He wanted to say something but he couldn't find the right words and could only scratch his head in bitterness and exhale out an exasperated sigh, "I'm dragging her to my problems again? Haahhh... To follow that guy, you'd have to leave too, right?"

"Yes."

"Then please give her my regards... And help her out with whatever she needs." Kisuke started releasing the fetter that was connecting him to Benihime.

"Leave it to me... And I'll be back." The moment she finished her words, Benihime disappeared as if she wasn't there in the first place. The next moment, the very thin string on top of the castle also snapped and soon the whole innerworld containing black sea and black castle disappeared like a mirage and was replaced by a desolated and lifeless forest.

Beside Kisuke, Tiamat was standing while looking up, "You two are truly cut from the same cloth."

"I'll take that as a compliment this time." Kisuke smiled before turning around, "Let's go and finish things up on this side."

Before Kisuke could leave, Tiamat asked him, "Are you confident that she'll be able to do it?"

"Of course. After all, this ability to ink things is not really compatible with her."

"Hmmm? What do you mean?"

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On a relatively small planet that's almost covered with lush forests of towering trees with ivory white trunks and branches and golden leaves, a young lady with white hair and green eyes is standing in front of people with similar features as hers.

They are obviously family members but a happy familial atmosphere couldn't be found as the young lady was wearing cuffs while receiving strict stares and sometimes scorn from most of the people around her.

"Do you understand your crimes now?" The man who looks a few decades older than the young woman raised his voice, echoing through the large chamber they are in.

But instead of cowering, the young lady stood straight and even glared at the middle-aged man, "Stop wasting everyone's time. You already decided what punishment I would have behind closed doors. What's the point of making a show out of this obviously biased trial? Ahhh... That's right, isn't it? You just want to make an example out of me because I can't give you the answers that you want. Must be nice to have..." The young lady's statement, however, couldn't be finished as she was forced to shut up.

"Stralit Luxeux." The woman on the highest seat who looks like the young lady but aged up, spoke, "This council is giving you one last chance. Explain why you thwarted the operation on Draconic Deus and where your [Successor] is?"