Chapter One: Return from War, and the Realm Beyond

Chapter One: Return After the War and the Next Space

"Is this the first wave of this thing?" Shust tilted his head and said casually, looking at the pale woman who had been shattered into fragments upon touching the Lightning Armor.

Moments ago, while they were all drawn to the ruins, a pale hand had reached out and touched Shust...

And then it was electrified into pieces by the Lightning Armor.

"Giggle giggle giggle" An eerie sound filled the air around them. However, aside from Jingchen feeling a bit uneasy, the other two were completely unfazed.

"Snap." Shust snapped his fingers, and Lightning Armor enveloped both Jingchen and Lolita. Then countless lightning arrows shot toward the pale female ghosts that had just poked their heads out from the surrounding fence.

"According to the pattern, the next wave should come from behind, but..." Before Shust could finish his sentence, a scream rang out from behind Lolita, Jingchen, and himself. Turning around, they saw three white women disintegrated by the Lightning Armor.

A light flashed ahead, and atop the rooftop, a row of Japanese-style paper doors appeared out of nowhere, looking like the entrance to an ordinary residence. The paper doors slowly slid open, revealing a common household room behind them, where a man and a woman were arguing.

The man seemed to be beating the woman relentlessly. Then he grabbed a knife from the table and stabbed her with it. Blood gushed out as the woman fell to the ground, her eyes wide with disbelief. But the man did not stop there. Instead, he picked up the knife and began carving and dismembering the woman's corpse. The body convulsed and twitched, yet those eyes stared fixedly at Shust and his companions. The woman's face looked exactly like those pale female ghosts from before—covered in blood, twisted and horrifying.

Jingchen was so startled she took a step back. After all, it was her first battle; even the strongest woman would be frightened.

"Don't worry. My Lightning Armor is by no means low-tier—a sixth-rank ghost can't break through it. Besides, lightning is like holy light: it's the bane of monsters..." Shust drew Blood Dance, Crescent Moon, and twirled it into a flourish.

Calmly, Shust watched the man slowly approach him. The man swung the cleaver in his hand, chopping down at him.

"Krack." The cleaver, along with the man's body, dissolved into pieces. The Lightning Armor truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier defensive spell combining both offense and defense.

"Is it really this easy? Lolita, activate Geass... this is..." A sudden premonition struck Shust, and he decisively activated Geass.

What came into view was a completely translucent heap of flesh—the remnants of the dismembered woman's corpse. It shot straight toward Shust and the others' stomachs at terrifying speed...

"Bang bang bang." Heaven's Spark spat out tongues of fire, and the three piles of flesh were blown to pieces in the instant before they reached their targets, vanishing completely. The surroundings fell silent.

"Quiet now? Strange—why is the final wave..." "Giggle giggle giggle." Before Shust could finish, Kayako's voice sounded again.

The three turned around. What met their eyes was an enormous Kayako crawling up from the ground. At the same time, a great many civilians suddenly appeared around them as if by miracle, staring at the trio in confusion—after all, their outfits were far too conspicuous. Lolita's gear, Shust's Heaven's Spark and Blood Dance, Crescent Moon, and Jingchen's White Dragon Bow—a modified Iron Blood War Bow, named for its snow-white body engraved with a white dragon. It would be strange if they weren't the center of attention.

The surrounding pedestrians seemed unable to see the giant pale woman. Instead, when Lolita aimed her submachine gun at them, the passersby in that direction immediately started shoving and panicking. Every pedestrian who touched the giant pale woman let out a scream and collapsed to the ground. But since the pedestrians couldn't see her at all, as more and more people fell, the crowd grew increasingly frantic.

"These fools. Five Elements Seal, maximum output. Five Elements Barrier, open!" Seeing Kayako growing larger as she absorbed the souls of passersby, Shust hurriedly unleashed the fully improved Five Elements Seal at maximum output, forming the Five Elements Barrier.

A multicolored barrier expanded outward, blasting away every pedestrian it touched and sealing the giant Kayako inside with Shust and his companions.

"Oww!" Realizing she had no more souls to draw upon, Kayako let out a furious roar and slammed her fist against the barrier. The punch struck the barrier, which caved inward—then snapped back violently, flinging her to the ground.

"This idiot... whatever. The sooner we finish, the sooner we're done." Shust shrugged helplessly as he looked at Kayako. She really was too stupid.

"Gawu." From within Jingchen's arms, Little Snow emerged and let out a fitting yelp. Speaking of which, Jingchen's chest was even larger than Lolita's. Her measurements were 95, 50, 95—a bit excessive by any standard. *Author: For a sixteen-year-old girl, those really are over the top. What if the chest is so big that her waist just snaps with a crack... ouch. Jingchen: Go die, you're the sixteen-year-old girl, your whole family are! Author: Ooh, Queen Jingchen, please spare me......*

"Let me handle this. Since you've learned a new spell, I can't fall behind." Lolita stepped forward. "The thunder of final judgment, the holy light of purity, the undying flame, the surging sea, the omnipresent breeze, the boundless earth, the endless darkness—merge! Destroy everything before my eyes!—Cathedral of the Seven Luminaries!" The lightning-affinity magic elements from the Thundering Cathedral Shust had unleashed earlier instantly split into seven equal portions of seven elemental magics, then coalesced into a single golden, unknown magic element. That golden element condensed into a golden sphere and hurtled toward the Kayako that had just climbed to her feet. *Without the magical power of the Thundering Cathedral, Lolita would not have been able to unleash this with her sixth-rank mana.*

"Oww!" Seeing the golden orb drawing closer, Kayako let out a resentful shriek, then crumbled to ash within the barrier...

Everyone had returned to the Divine-Descended Continent.

Opening his eyes, the first thing Shust saw was a stunningly beautiful girl dressed in maid's attire. She bowed and said, "Welcome back, young master, young miss."

"Oh, Sakuya. How long was I gone?" Shust looked around and noticed that nothing in the room had changed at all.

"An hour and a half, young master." Sakuya glanced at the wall clock and replied.

"Only that long? Hm, well—Sakuya, let me introduce you. This is Yao Jingchen, the elder sister who looked after me for five years in the living world." Shust gestured to Jingchen, who was still dazed and being supported by Lolita.

"Welcome aboard, Miss Jingchen." Sakuya extended her hand to Jingchen.

"Hm? Oh, hello!" Still somewhat disoriented, Jingchen absentmindedly shook hands with Sakuya.

"Well then, Sakuya—since it's only been an hour and a half, let's prepare to head to the Bleach world. After all, Lolita needs a physical body, and that can't wait." Shust watched as Lolita escorted the still-confused Jingchen into her room and said.

"So soon? ...I understand. I'll go fetch Miss Lolita." Sakuya paused for a moment at first, then, seeing the determination in Shust's eyes, went off to find Lolita.

"System, prepare to go to the Bleach space."

"Ding-dong. Please select the characters to transfer."

"Me and Lolita."

"Ding-dong. Please make physical contact with the characters to transfer."

Hearing this, Shust looked at Lolita, who had already been brought over, and smiled slightly. "Well then, let's get started on preparing a body for you."

"So fast! What about all those elves outside—are we just ignoring them?" Lolita said in surprise.

"Oh, then I'll have to trouble you and Sister Jingchen with that, Sakuya." Shust thought for a moment and said.

"No problem at all. Resolving the young master's troubles is my duty without question." Sakuya bowed.

"Ah, whatever. We'll be back soon enough. Sakuya, you two will have to work hard." Lolita said sullenly.

"Alright, stop complaining. I'm doing this for your own good, you little girl!" Shust pinched Lolita's nose.

"You're the little girl! I'm not younger than you!" Lolita squirmed free from his hand and shouted.

"You're five years younger than me—that's a fixed rule!" Shust said with the stern tone of an elder.

"Urusai, urusai, just send us through the dimensional jump already!" Lolita's face flushed as she yelled, then grabbed his hand.

A flash of white light, and the two vanished from where they stood.

Scene shift.

Opening his eyes, he saw a ceiling that was both unfamiliar and familiar. Looking left and right, there was no one beside him. His mind was hazy and muddled, and before he knew it, darkness swallowed him and he lost consciousness again.

My name is Kuchiki Shust—the second young master of the Kuchiki family, two hundred and twenty-four years old. A genius in hakuda and swordsmanship, average in kido aptitude, and First Seat of the Sixth Division...

"Heh, so this is the memory of this place?" Shust sat up, holding his head. Beside him lay a zanpakutō, jet-black from hilt to tip. Its name was—Thunder.

"Hey, Lolita, are you there? Don't sleep anymore." Shust called toward the zanpakutō.

"Mm... where is this... Eh? These memories. Why did I become the sword spirit of a zanpakutō?" Lolita's silhouette gradually materialized, then she said in astonishment.

"Strange... Geass, activate! Hah, I can't even see you without Geass anymore." Shust frowned glumly at Lolita, who was floating behind him.

"Nothing we can do—the system really knows how to arrange things. Whatever, I'm your secondary personality now anyway. I'm going back to sleep." Lolita stretched with a cute yawn and vanished again.

"All this turning into a sword spirit did was make her love sleeping... strange girl." Shust shook his head.

"Knock, knock, knock. Second young master Shust, the master requests your presence." A servant's respectful voice came from outside the door.

"Coming!"

PS: Sorry, I hadn't woken up this morning and posted the wrong chapter!