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nTranslator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

nKungo was in tremendous pain.

nHe felt as if his body was being dissolved by the hottest magma which slowly drew away parts of himself. His consciousness became hazy, feeling like a candle fire being buffeted by the wind. He felt as if his light would go out at any moment.

nHe wanted to shout or scream out loudly, but was unable to make a sound.

nThe darkness of death surrounded him. The extreme heat brought along the deepest coldness.

n‘No… I can’t die…

n‘I need to live… I must live…’

nKungo used his strong will to support his own existence. He tolerated, withstood, and prayed…

n‘Master… Please wake up… Wake up…’

nKungo had no idea how much time passed. He no longer possessed a concrete sensation of the passage of time.

nThe loyal samurai used everything he had to resist. However, death still irresistibly approached him.

nHe was being consumed; he was decreasing in existence until the very limit. If he reached the limit, his existence would end.

nBut right before he reached his limit, he heard a sigh from somewhere.

n“Silly child…”

n…

n“He can’t take it for any longer,” Yomi told Seiji in the middle of the spell.

nSeiji furrowed his eyebrows deeply while looking at the spell formation before him.

nSayaka Tendo’s remnant soul hadn’t responded.

nIt would seem that the spell had failed… Kungo had sacrificed so much of himself for nothing.

nBut just as Seiji was thinking this, the purple soul orb in the spell formation suddenly flashed!

nThere was a reaction after all!? Seiji instantly widened his eyes in surprise.

nHe then heard a faint female voice saying, “Stop… hurry and stop…”

nStop the spell!

nSeiji immediately stopped the spell that used part of Kungo to revitalize Sayaka’s soul. Yomi then assisted him with the fine details, protecting Kungo’s life.

nThis wasn’t easy. Seiji constantly sweated as he worked on the spell.

nThe former dark red humanoid spiritual figure was now a chaotic and hazy ball of black light. It seemed as if Kungo was about to completely collapse from existence! Seiji did his very best to help maintain and resculpt Kungo’s form. Seiji felt as if he was slowly pulling out someone who had sunk deep into a quagmire. This was incredibly heavy and difficult.

n“Kungo, she’s awake! Your master has woken up! You’ve succeeded! Now, it’s your turn! Don’t die!” Seiji couldn’t help but shout out.

nSomeone who sacrificed so much deserved to get something in return.

nEven though Kungo couldn’t really be called one of Seiji’s companions, Seiji still truly hoped that Kungo’s courageous sacrifice would result in a good ending.

n‘Live, loyal warrior!’

nAs if Seiji’s will had been transmitted successfully, the black light stopped collapsing, and slowly reformed itself.

nAt this time, the purple soul orb was also slowly changing, forming a hazy purple humanoid figure with two swirls where the eyes should be. These eye swirls shone with a deep black light.

n“Mas… ter…” Kungo’s dark red figure spoke weakly. He was now significantly smaller than before, going from the size of adult to child.

n“Silly child…” The purple figure reached out her hand, and gently caressed the dark red figure’s head. “Why would you do such a thing…”

nKungo didn’t say anything else. It was evident that he had used up all of his strength as he weakly collapsed on the ground.

n“Truly a miracle.” Yomi sighed. “He still didn’t fade from existence despite all this… I can only describe it as a miracle.”

nSeiji felt the same way. Kungo’s current condition seemed just like a human who had still managed to survive despite losing half of his body. It was Kungo’s incomparably powerful will to survive that had created such a miracle!

nAlthough he had collapsed due to a lack of energy, it wasn’t so serious anymore. He would recover as time passed.

nWhat was important right now was…

n“Sayaka Tendo-san… is that right?” Seiji asked the purple figure.

nOnly after the purple figure confirmed that Kungo was alright did she glance at the Yin Yang Master before her.

n“What do you want?” she spoke quite bluntly.

n“I need information,” Seiji replied. “Your experiences while you were alive… and about the white dragon and the spiritual ability Awakening experiment. I need to know everything that you know!”

nThe purple figure, who was indeed Sayaka Tendo, fell silent for a moment before responding, “Why do you need to know such things? Who are you?”

n“I am Seiji Haruta, a member of the Haruta Family… who’s currently in exile.” Seiji paused for a moment. “I suppose you could still treat me as a member of the Haruta Family. And, I need to know all this because of the current situation…”

nSeiji then summarized the current situation to Sayaka.

nAfter Sayaka listened to his story, her first question was to ask what year it currently was. She seemed to sigh after hearing the answer.

n“Ten years have passed already… that plan actually continued for so long?”

nAfter her sigh, she fell silent once again.

nSeiji was about to try and convince her to cooperate when his system suddenly sent him a notification that many people had entered his Spirit House. Seiji couldn’t help but pause in surprise.

n“Seiji!” a voice soon called out from behind him.

nMika and the others had arrived.

nEvery single member of his group had arrived.

n“An incident happened outside!” Mika swiftly explained things to Seiji.

nEveryone had suddenly heard a tremendous bestial roar that shook the entire city. They then saw a bright red light expanding everywhere in the sky, with countless red lights falling down which brought a deep chill…

nSeiji’s expression became grim after he heard this.

nCatastrophe had come upon the city yet again!

nSoul Society had been unable to stop this… just like in the previous timeline!

n‘Damn it all…’

nSeiji gritted his teeth in anger. He really wanted to vent, but that wouldn’t help the situation at all!

nHe had done so many things, but it still hadn’t been enough.

n‘Damn it! Goddamned Soul Society! They’re so useless!!!’

nSeiji also thought of Yui, and really wanted to curse at her. But, he forcefully restrained himself.

nHe knew that he needed to calm down and that anger was useless.

nSoul Society… and Yui… had probably tried their very best.

nIt was just that the Tendo Family had been even stronger.

nThe Tendo Family was one of the seven major Yin Yang Master families, after all. Even if Soul Society detected their scheme, it would be difficult to stop them.

nBut at least… not everything had been useless in this timeline. Seiji had learned that the Tendo Family was behind everything. Also…

nAfter Seiji calmed down, he looked at Sayaka Tendo again.

n“Tendo-san, you also heard what happened outside. A catastrophe is currently happening and threatening the lives of millions of people in the city. I beg of you, please tell me everything that you know! Your information might be the key to saving everyone.”

nSomething flashed in Sayaka’s eyes as she faced him.

n“Okay… But, I have a condition. You must guarantee my and Kungo’s safety.”

n“I promise!” Seiji directly agreed. “I and my companions shall definitely not harm you.”

nAfter receiving this promise, Sayaka began to tell her story.

nTen years ago, Shinzen Tendo, a member of the Tendo Family, attempted to steal the Yasakani no Magatama artifact that the Tendo Family was in charge of protecting at the time. His attempt was discovered.

nAfter Shinzen was captured by his own family, he announced that he had tampered with the Yasakani no Magatama using a certain spell already. This spell was capable of destroying the mystical artifact at any moment. Shinzen also proved that he was capable of doing this.

nThe reason he did this was for his personal and the family’s evolution.

nIf the Tendo Family refused to assist him, then he would destroy the artifact and commit suicide!

nAfter an emergency family discussion, the Tendo Family’s higher-ups were convinced by Shinzen, and chose to protect him, covering up this incident as a failed attempt to steal the Yasakani no Magatama. The Tendo Family also ended up assisting with Shinzen’s plan.

nThis plan was known as the Susanoo plan. It originated from a mysterious person whose true identity was unknown. He called himself the “Abbey Master”. The Tendo Family was unable to find out who the Abbey Master really was. However, the spiritual techniques that the Abbey Master taught to Shinzen Tendo were real and highly valuable.

nAfter the Susanoo plan was carried out for some time, Sayaka Tendo was chosen to be in charge of the first large-scale experiment due to her outstanding talent. However, something went wrong with the experiment. A giant white dragon was summoned, and everyone participating in the experiment ended up perishing!

n“Even I don’t know what exactly went wrong with the experiment. But, my personal feeling… is that perhaps it’s because of the Tendo Family’s sins,” Sayaka told Seiji.

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