Taimanin: The Weakest's Resolve

Five Days Break - 13

The centipede was cut down, sharing the same fate to those who'd crossed path with the crimson blade.

The demon with many arms felled as its body slashed to pieces. The crimson blade continued to dance in the darkness and showed no sign of stopping. The attack came unpredictable, each swing of the sword was a straight pattern and yet those simple movements appeared as a blur. Through an absurd technique, the sword had become one with the air.

The bird watched Kotaro pointing his blade to the next target in sight. It was the next piece of wood he would cut down. So it flee, wings soared and flew towards the rift above. The giant bird didn't have a conscience, it possessed little to no instinct to feel the greatest threat ever to appear within the Great Ashen Tree dormant. Its sole purpose was to obey the unvoiced commands of the one that turned it into a heartless wooden machination. At this moment, the whisper was telling it to escape, the tree couldn't afford to lose another precious vessel.

Folding its wings, the bird raced past the large crack and rose high above the forest. As it was about to escape, a tiny load created a pressure on its back, barely noticeable. Without a warning, it happened out of nowhere, someone was standing on top it. The crimson blade stabbed it right between the head. The giant vessel staggered, falling from the sky.

The blade won't stop there, not until its wielder decided to spare his enemy. However, the intention no longer crossed Kotaro's mind. He continued to grip the weapon tightly, pulled it from the bird's head, jumped off and performed a swipe.

The sword missed its mark as the bird was out of reach. Despite that, a cut ran deep along the body of its target. The falling bird split in half, dead to Kuchiki's control.

Fuuma Kotaro successfully wiped out all of the ashen monster's favorite vessels.

As body parts of the giant bird hit the forest, he landed on a canopy among the trees. The state of omnipotence had yet to run out. It constantly drove an insane amount of focus into his mind.

Within the vortex that covering over half of his face, the right eye carefully watched the severed top of the bird and saw what it needed. Kotaro dashed over the crowns. Combining with Wind Art, his movements were as light as a feather. He reached the lifeless corpse of the bird and shoved his hand into the crack where the crimson blade had stabbed through.

The right eye was looking at an invisible pathway that connected to both Kuchiki and the Great Ashen Tree's consciousnesses. Before it disappears for good, Kotaro infused Taima energy to his hand and grabbed onto that existence.

The flesh, the blood and the soul.

Kuchiki had used this quote multiple times. To each other, those words were connected. Although it came directly from his mouth, Kuchiki spoke of them not to show off his inflated complex as a self-proclaimed avatar of an otherworldly being. He used them as a presentation to the ideal bornt from the Ashen Tree. The Great Ashen Tree consumed the flesh, drank the blood like water to plants to deliver and absorb nutrients in every part of the body.

In the end, which part of the soul fitted into the entirety of that existence? The supernatural rebirth ability, the so-called blessing Kuchiki received from the tree was part of the answer. For a tree that can grant others the life of a pseudo-immortal being, it needs the souls. It was fully capable of perceiving the spiritual power exists outside the realm of ordinary comprehensions, the tree desired to feed on it for a long-standing goal.

In another world, acquiring souls will help it reach rejuvenation.

The golden era Kuchiki mentioned was this. Over a thousand years, it had harvested hardly enough lives to fulfill that goal. Ingrid would be a different matter. To Kuchiki and the Great Ashen Tree, a high-ranking Hell Knight would be more than enough to fill in the rest of that gap. Her presence in this town had kickstarted that goal to progress faster. That would explain the desperation on Kuchiki's part, he wanted his god to heal and regain its prime in order to expand its influence like they once did in the ancient period.