Eternal Saṃsāra: The Wanderer of Worlds

[138] The Battle of Norse

* * *

Around the same time,

"Finally home..." Ichigo stretched his arms as he stepped out of the car, yawning.

Despite all these new powers he now had, he was still working his job. 'Truly there is no stop to corporate slavery,' he shook his head.

He walked to the door and found it locked. He had the key, but he wondered why it was locked. It was nighttime already, Miyako and Tsubasa should be home by now. To check if they had been notified about some sudden tour, he took out his phone and checked the notifications.

"Ah," Indeed, there was an occasion. There were messages from Ai, telling him to go to her house instead of his when he'll return. Miyako and Tsubasa were there already.

"I wonder what the occasion is," he rubbed the back of his head and began to walk to the Hoshino Household. It was right beside his house, just a few seconds of walking, but Ichigo had to pause for a moment when he thundered as if it was the call of the apocalypse.

At the same time, his innate instincts sensed a change in the energy around them—his eyes caught the spread of an aura around the world that separated this space from the normal world. The presence of normal humans that he felt a moment earlier vanished, leaving only him and those inside the Hoshino household in this space.

"Whoa, what is this now?" he shuddered a little as a few more explosions came from the distant sky, shaking his head and quickly walking over to the gate of Ai's house.

There, he was surprised once again, "Whoa," there was a double layer of barrier just outside the house, one green and the other blue, wrapped over one another.

He placed a hand at the barrier, and surprisingly it phased through, which meant he was allowed access.

"Ichigo-!" there was a call coming from the yard behind the gate, and his head snapped to look at the horrifying expression of Miyako. She was walking out of the house's door with Ai and the others beside her, all looking at him. "Behind you!"

Ichigo snapped his head backward, and a hand slapped the side of his face. He was sent flying backward, away from the barrier, while the women yelled from inside.

He slammed against a house, and it crumbled to dust.

* * *

Earlier,

When the girls returned home and told Ai about Aqua's instructions, she knew there was something wrong. He knew she wasn't used to these types of situations, nor did she ever use formations before. Yet he put this responsibility on her shoulders meant it was potentially an emergency.

She invited Ichigo and Miyako into her house, but while Miyako was already there, Ichigo was late due to some work. While waiting for him, Ai began to work on the formation and array. The girls were told to do their daily routine, and in the meantime, Ai finished taking care of the orders.

Then, she changed her outfit into that of the Light Goddess and sat down to sip tea. She had to be prepared for anything, even if she didn't know what to expect.

Hours passed, and she caught the aura of Aqua on the edge of her senses.

She activated her X-ray vision to look at him kilometers away from her, and a thin smile formed on her lips.

Thankfully, everything was alright.

He was just there, almost-

– Boom-!

A Warhammer swung into his face that he barely blocked with his arms. Even from this distance, due to her focus, Ai did not miss the sound of his bones crunching. The air exploded on the spot with a boom and the impact sent Aqua into the river below.