Inside the Realm of Cherry Blossoms.Yui Haruta looked at Raizen Tendo"s back. She wanted to say something, but didn"t know what she should say.
Consolations or apologies would both be useless here.
On the surface, Raizen had an expression as if he didn"t care what happened to his younger brother s.h.i.+gure. However, Yui could tell that he actually really cared about s.h.i.+gure. The evidence was how well prepared Raizen was for investigating the Tendo Family"s Dragon Vein. Even though this was all prepared on such a short notice, Raizen had spent a great deal of effort on the preparations to lower the risk as much as possible.
Yet, something unexpected still ended up happening.
A Dimensional Eye suddenly appeared and sucked s.h.i.+gure Tendo into an Inner World. He vanished completely, without Raizen and Yui knowing if he was dead or still alive!
Even though they were clearly investigating the Tendo Family"s Dragon Vein, a Dimensional Eye connected to the Realm of Cherry Blossoms had appeared. This already proved that there was something wrong with the Tendo Family. However, the cost of finding out might have been s.h.i.+gure Tendo"s life.
Maybe s.h.i.+gure was still alive… however, his odds of survival would be immensely low as he was teleported somewhere deep inside the Realm of Cherry Blossoms.
Yui was unable to see Raizen"s expression right now. Nor did she want to.
As silence permeated all around them, the sound of footsteps approached.
Meisei Sorin walked over.
"I truly apologize about what happened to s.h.i.+gure Tendo," he spoke in a light tone that didn"t sound even one bit apologetic. "Thanks to his sacrifice, we can now confirm that the Tendo Family"s Dragon Vein is secretly connected to the Realm of Cherry Blossoms. And, the catalyst for this connection is highly likely to be the Yasakani no Magatama. Now, what we need to do next is unravel the secrets contained within… Since time is of the essence, the ends will have to justify the means."
"What do you intend to do?" Yui looked at Meisei.
"Kouran Tendo," Meisei Sorin stated, giving a single name in a heavy tone.
Yui understood what Meisei intended to do from his expression and tone of voice. She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Are you certain?"
"I"m certain. Although targeting Kouran Tendo will be rather troublesome, that"s no longer an issue with how serious the problem has become. The important thing right now is to take care of the problem." Meisei looked over at Raizen who was currently standing completely still. "I"ll have to trouble you again for this, Raizen Tendo."
"Shut up!!" Raizen shouted at the top of his lungs.
The scene fell completely silent.
"Only by finding out what exactly the Tendo Family did will s.h.i.+gure Tendo"s sacrifice not be wasted," Meisei continued in the same light tone. "I can understand your feelings of regret, but now"s not the time for such emotions. There"s too little time left, so you shouldn"t be wasting time on these emotions."
*Boom!!* A streak of purple lightning instantly struck Meisei Sorin.
Meisei"s figure was devoured and shattered by the purple lightning. However, he instantly reappeared at another location with no signs of apparent injury.
"If you want to regret, or if you want to vent, there"s plenty of time for you to do that after all of this is resolved. Now"s not the time."
"That"s enough! Sorin-san, please stop talking for a while." Yui was unable to watch this anymore as she intervened.
Yui then turned towards Raizen.
"Tendo-kun, I also truly am sorry about what happened to your younger brother… But Sorin-san is also correct. The most important thing right now is to find out the truth. Otherwise, something absolutely catastrophic could happen… and it won"t do right by s.h.i.+gure Tendo."
Raizen didn"t say a single word.
He silently took out a black spiritual artifact that released a red light. He tossed this artifact onto the ground, where it created a bright red circular swirl. Raizen stepped on this red circle which teleported him back to the real world.
Meisei Sorin also left the Realm of Cherry Blossoms after Raizen.
Yui was the last to leave.
Right when she returned to the real world, her cell phone began to ring.
...…..
s.h.i.+gure Tendo had no idea what had happened to himself.
All he knew was that he had been on his way to visit the Yanagi Samurai Family and suddenly ambushed. He didn"t know who had attacked him, because he had been knocked unconscious without getting the chance to resist.
After that, he could faintly sense something as he tried to break free from his restraints, but he didn"t succeed… He faintly felt like he was sinking deeper and deeper down somewhere, finally entering a strange state where he was no longer himself.
s.h.i.+gure had only very hazy sensations of acting in that form and fighting against Seiji and his friends. It all felt like waking up from a dream. s.h.i.+gure only had vague impressions, and couldn"t remember anything specific.
This was only the dream world. s.h.i.+gure also had no idea where his real body was located, or what condition his body was in.
Seiji felt like s.h.i.+gure"s words were all believable. His instinct told him that s.h.i.+gure wasn"t lying.
"Basically, you were kidnapped. The kidnapping caused your current situation," Seiji summarized things succinctly.
s.h.i.+gure looked at Seiji.
"Although you were ambushed, the kidnapper must be incredibly strong to have knocked you unconscious in a single attack." Seiji suddenly brought out a paper fan and revealed the words "unexpected trouble" on the fan. "And then, the kidnapper or the organization behind the kidnapping did something to you that caused you to enter the dream world and become the Evil G.o.ddess"s subordinate.
"Currently, I"ve sealed away this portion of the Evil G.o.ddess"s power. However, your real body is still in the kidnapper"s control. Even if I help your mind to return to your body in the real world right now, it will be meaningless. We have to rescue your real body first.
"I can help to notify your family so that they can help to save you… but my guess is that your family already knows that something happened to you. I doubt I need to do this.
"Your family should be able to help you return your mind to the real world after they rescue your body. So until then, I suppose you"ll have to wait in the dream world.
"I hope that you won"t tell anyone about meeting me and fighting against me here in the dream world once you return… Is that alright?"
s.h.i.+gure slowly nodded.
"Very good, let"s just leave things at that, then." Seiji closed his paper fan. "It will be quite boring to stay here in the dream world by yourself. Should I give you something interesting?"
Something interesting?
s.h.i.+gure was rather curious what this could be as he nodded.
Seiji raised his hand, creating a golden flash as a novel with a beautiful cover appeared on his hand.
The cover seemed romantic yet mystical. A beautiful girl held a demon mask in her hand, while a handsome youth who wore a jacket while keeping both his hands in his pockets looked back in her direction. The cover was beautifully drawn, instantly attracting s.h.i.+gure"s attention.
This novel was t.i.tled "Brother Monogatari"!
"This is a light novel that I wr— er, that I really like in the real world. You"ve probably never read it before." Seiji handed s.h.i.+gure the light novel that he personally wrote. "It"s really interesting. Why don"t you try giving it a read?"
s.h.i.+gure took the light novel with both hands. He took a long look at the cover and felt that it was drawn quite excellently, making him want to read the contents.
"Thank you, Harutsan."
"No need for thanks. See you later."
Seiji waved his hand and left the dream world after leaving s.h.i.+gure with his light novel.
After s.h.i.+gure watched Seiji"s party leave, he then sat down on the ground in formal seiza position before opening up the light novel. s.h.i.+gure began to read it with a serious att.i.tude as if he was reading a great cla.s.sic.
"Is it really alright to leave him there?"
After everyone returned to the real world and woke up, Natsuya asked Seiji this question.
"It"ll be fine. He"s no longer a threat… and if anything happens, I"ll go back to the dream world again," Seiji told her.
In the end, he still had no idea what had caused the New Timeline to deviate from the Destruction Timeline.
However, there were only two possible factors. Either the Messengers or Soul Society would be involved in this change from the Destruction Timeline.
As for the Messengers, Seiji could contact either Kamitani or Voidfire to ask. However, it was quite unlikely that he could obtain useful information from either of them. As for Soul Society…
After some consideration, Seiji dialed Yui"s number.
She picked up almost immediately.
"Yui Nee-san, are you currently investigating the Tendo Family?"
Yui blinked when she answered Seiji"s phone call and heard his question. "Did you use that ability of yours again?"