CH 653

Seiji’s body stiffened. He recognized that he had entered some type of abnormal realm.

Shika had vanished from next to him. Some black mist appeared as bright red cluster amaryllis flowers popped out of the ground and began to bloom brilliantly.

*Smack!*

A pair of green arms suddenly reached out from the ground and viciously grabbed Seiji’s feet! These green arms had the rotten stench of decay.

Seiji recognized these arms. They belonged to a zombie he had battled in the past! This zombie had been a former blondie named… something Yamamoto?

The distorted face that then appeared next verified that this was who he thought it was.

Messy hair, bulging eyes, and green veins bulging all over his body… this was one of the first mystical creatures that Seiji had ever faced, the former bully who had turned into a zombie!!

“Grahhhh!!!!” the zombie roared ferociously.

Its claws tightly clamped down on Seiji’s feet and dragged him down with tremendous force!

“Argh…” Seiji felt great pain from this as he witnessed his own feet sinking into some mysterious and ominous place that was cold, sticky, and pitch-black.

He tried his best to move his right hand, wanting to do something, but another hand suddenly reached out from behind and grabbed him!

This hand’s arm was wearing a blue-white wide sleeve. Although the hand was human, it appeared abnormally pale.

Seiji recognized that this sleeve belonged to a Yin Yang Master hunting clothes uniform. Then, he recognized the owner of the hand itself—Akatsuki Mitarai!!

Seiji wanted to say something, but was unable to make a sound. Akatsuki’s hand on his arm felt icy cold. This coldness invaded Seiji’s arm and swiftly began freezing his blood, spreading through his body.

Was this a return of the dead…?

Seiji was not frightened by such a scary situation at all. Instead, his mouth arced upward.

This type of scenario was far too cliché! His enemies would have to do better than that to scare him!! At least come up with something creative!!

Since Seiji already realized that he had been dragged into a soul realm, he instantly began using the power of his imagination.

There was a golden flash as Seiji’s right arm instantly transformed into a mechanical arm that shot lasers from his fingertips. He flipped his new mechanical hand and instantly cut off Akatsuki’s hand!

Seiji then extended his mechanical arm downwards and grabbed the zombie by its face while emitting fierce flames from his hand!

“Rahhhhhhh!!!” the zombie roared even more fiercely, yet also more pitifully than before upon being burned. The sound rattled Seiji’s ears.

“I didn’t want to die… it’s all your fault…”

“Ha, I killed both of you! But so what!?”

Seiji immolated the zombie and then transformed his left hand into a lightsaber, stabbing backwards. There was the sound of popping as he stabbed through something.

“I do feel regret, but not to either of you!

“I do feel guilt, but not to either of you!

“The dead should just shut up and get the hell out of my life! Don’t you even think

that you can take me along with you!!”

There was a boom and explosion of golden light, which washed away the sharp screams containing hatred and grudges.

*Ding-dong~*

There was a faint sound that sounded like a faraway bell being shaken while attached to a string.

The black mist and the cluster amaryllis flowers disappeared. Seiji heard the familiar sound of the sea wind once again as he saw Shika looking at him in worry.

“…I’m fine.” Seiji smiled at her in reassurance.

He then looked all around him… and saw nothing out of the ordinary at all.

“Brother…”

“I think that I was brought into a soul realm just now. Someone probably used a soul magic spell on me.”

“…I didn’t notice anything at all.” Shika furrowed her eyebrows.

“This means that the spellcaster concealed himself really well, or…” Seiji thought about it and then patted his adopted younger sister on the head. “It’s not your fault. Don’t mind it.”

“I’m Brother’s Spirit-branded Retainer…”

“Yep. I feel quite safe with you by my side. I also noticed really quickly that something was wrong because you disappeared from my side. If I had been by myself to begin with, I probably wouldn’t have reacted so quickly.” Seiji smiled.

Shika felt warmed by his smile, but she was unable to truly relax and accept his coaxing. As a Spirit-branded Retainer, her adopted older brother came under attack yet she didn’t even notice the spellcaster… this was a great humiliation!

Since the enemy had been able to hide so well while casting a soul spell, he or she was without a doubt incredibly strong.

How could she prevent the same thing from happening again? Shika thought of a simple solution.

She silently clutched on to Seiji’s hand.

Seiji instantly understood Shika’s intention and squeezed her hand back.

Holding hands was a way to strengthen two people’s connections to each other. This was an effective method to resist soul attacks.

Of course, if the enemy’s soul spell attack was far too powerful, Shika would get dragged in as well and possibly die… But judging from the experience just now, either the spellcaster wasn’t strong to such a degree, or he or she didn’t want to do things to such an extent.

And actually, if things had truly been dangerous, Seiji still had his bonded female spirit, Yomi.

Whether or not she decided to wake up and warn him by herself was already a way for Seiji to judge how dangerous things were. Since Yomi hadn’t said anything, the danger was probably rather limited.

Of course, he knew that he couldn’t overly rely on her. It wasn’t as if she really was a blue cat robot who came from the future.

The incident he’d just experienced seemed more like a warning rather than an attempt on his life. Seiji explained his analysis to Shika, then silently mulled things over.

Seiji walked all around the ship and returned to the location where he met Saitou on the deck earlier. This curly-haired man was now by himself, leaning against a railing, smoking a cigarette while glancing at the sky. His pose and expression all seemed rather scenic.

“Saitou-san…”

“Er… Have you returned from your walk, Haruta-san?” Saitou looked over at Seiji and removed the cigarette from his mouth. He then noticed that Seiji and Shika were walking while holding each other’s hands. “Oh, you have such a good relationship.” He chuckled.

Seiji looked directly at Saitou’s face. “Saitou-san, I’d like to ask you, why did you stand up and say that you wanted to play cards?”

Saitou’s expression flickered for just a moment when he heard this question.

The change in his expression was rather subtle. However, Seiji’s sharp senses picked up on the flicker as he was carefully observing Saitou.

“I simply wanted to play some cards because sitting there and waiting around was quite boring… Isn’t that the same for you, Haruta-san?

“Yep, I indeed joined because I was rather bored. Originally, I thought that you and the others were the same. However, some things happened just now that caused me to reconsider.” Seiji then lowered his voice. “It’s highly likely that something is happening on this ship right now, and you intentionally drew everyone’s attention. You’re highly likely to be the main culprit or one of the conspirators.”

Saitou: “…”

“Perhaps you or your faction think that I know something. But actually, I don’t know anything at all,” Seiji spoke directly and honestly. “I think that Saitou-san is someone trustworthy, which is why I’ll tell you the truth: I’m from the Haruta Family, but I’m currently exiled. Although I’m a relative of Shuntou Haruta, I have zero connections to him and have never even met him before. The only reason why I got on this ship was because it’s free and convenient. I don’t have any other reasons at all.”

Something flashed in Saitou’s eyes as he looked at Seiji.

“I want to know what’s currently going on or what has already happened. I hope that Saitou-san can enlighten me,” Seiji spoke in a sincere tone.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Saitou took a deep puff of his cigarette and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke before he finally littered by flicking the cigarette into the sea.

“No matter if you’re telling me the truth or not, it doesn’t hurt to tell you. That’s because even someone like me knows already, so the higher-ups should… no, they definitely know already. It’s the ‘Revenge Alliance’… I suppose you can call them by that name.”

“Revenge Alliance?” Seiji paused in surprise for a moment.

This name caused him to recall a certain superhero group from his former world by the name of the Avengers! He also recalled that many from this group had died in their story.

“Yep. It’s an alliance that desires to take revenge against the higher-ups of the Bloodwine Ritual tournament—the seven major Yin Yang Master families, the three major samurai families, and all the others like them high up on their perches,” Saitou explained. “As long as you join that alliance, it’s said that you’ll be able to obtain great power in battle and kill those people. It’s said that a mysterious individual who obtained the tournament participant list went and contacted the participants with grudges against the major families, bringing up the idea of this alliance. This

mysterious individual also permitted us in the Revenge Alliance to spread this information and recruit more people to join.

“‘This is revenge, as well as a revolution. A new generation is upon us, so it’s time to overthrow the old ruling order…’ That mysterious individual made such a statement.”