3 - Nine Lives, p2

Ichigo’s wings were no ordinary trait. Aside from their incredible versatility in combat and nigh limitless mobility, they granted Ichigo with opportunities to make mistakes. It was this very trait that assured Ichigo would survive his battle in the previous war. Once Divine Acclamation was used, he was given those wings, all of which acted as extra lives.

Arising from the death following a spark of light, he had only six of those left.

“This guy has dozens of ways of killing me.”

“I can’t think of a good way to counter him aside from wearing him out and looking for an opening. But even then, he’s durable.”

“But I know that eventually, at some point in the future, he’s going to make a mistake. He’ll give me an opening to strike. No matter how many of my wings it takes, no matter how many times I have to die, I’ll find an opening to cut this thing’s head off.”

“Captain...you hang in there, alright?”

Ichigo charged at Beta, unleashing his wrath in the form of a giant flying slash that cut the Nachtvessel’s right arm off completely. Ichigo continued his beatdown, landing a consistent array of kicks and straights, finishing everything off with a strong slash released.

“The old villager claimed to have seen the supernatural.” Beta said. “He was a sick man, and his village brethren believed his mind was sick. They believed he was not fit to leive.”

The ink on Ichigo’s uniform gravitated towards Beta and quickly healed his arm back up. Ichigo saw the crowd surround him, he felt the atmosphere of the lonesome village on the plate of soulful darkness. Ichigo flew into the sky and started bombarding Beta with heaps of flying slashes, each of them leaving their mark on the ground. Beta was on the backfoot.

“Not all the perpetrators are punished by the gods. Not all justice prevails.” Beta said. Restrains appeared in the sky, chaining Ichigo’s feet, and soon enough, chaining his hands. When Ichigo looked around, he found that the restraints were the doing of the villagers.

Ichigo, now using his mouth, fired off a beam of light. He couldn’t catch Beta with it due to the latter’s complicated movement patterns and his own restrictions.

“Justice delivered by man...was not justice. It was an act of hatred.” Beta yelled. “The old man who claimed he could save the village was hung.”

The restraints morphed into thick, ink-woven strings that formed an almost unbreakable rope. Ichigo tried to struggle, but nothing he could do proved to be efficient. Eventually, his breathing stopped. The ink faded away, and Beta slowly approached Ichigo. But after Ichigo sparked back into life, Beta couldn’t see him.

Ichigo, escaping his invisibility, popped up behind Beta and stabbed him in his chest. He forced the blade down, trying to cut as much of Beta as possible. Beta lunged forward, escaping the blade. He turned around and quickly jumped back. He looked like he didn’t even know what the word ‘panic’ meant.

“The man asked to be treated with mercy after an atrocious crime.” Beta said. The ink poured down Ichigo’s legs and began to slowly tighten up, limiting his movements heavily. Ichigo, despite the restrictions, still tried his best to continue his beatdown of Beta, and he looked for the killshot as much as possible. He rapidly swung at Beta, now enraged, dealing damage while at the same time acknowledging that he’s about to die again.

“He begged for mercy. He said he wished to never die.” Beta asked. “And the gods complied with his request.”

“You sick fuck!” Ichigo yelled, getting more and more furious. He stepped closer to Beta and managed to stab him in the stomach again, but he felt the ink slowly transform into a tentacle-like force and keep him in place. He was kicked down to the ground, but instead of feeling the hard surface of the concrete beneath him, he felt like he was dropped into the ocean. He slowly dove down, as the ink around it mimicked the darkness of an abyssal depth. But before him, he saw the light of life.

“While his wish was followed, it resulted in a punishment much more cruel than death.” Beta said. The ink gathered around his hand and formed a sword, which Beta used to stab Ichigo’s heart and destroy it. “He was granted an eternal life, and a never-ending execution.”

Another spark. Another opportunity. Ichigo had five wings left, but those were enough to let him fly around. But unfortunately, he was truly cornered this time. The play described a never-ending punishment, which meant that even if Ichigo were to die, he wouldn’t escape the fatal poetry.

Beta stabbed him again, this time, destroying a large chunk of his upper body, once again killing him instantly. Each such strike plunged him deeper and deeper into the depths, while the light of salvation that gave him false hope started to appear bleaker and bleaker. Ichigo lost another wing, now being left with only half his initial amount.

“I...can’t...escape...”

“ ✦ Divine Ring Of Exorcism! ✦ ”

Beta’s body was burnt for only a few seconds. Beta made the correct decision and instead of retreating, stabbed Ichigo again. This time, his head was the target. It was blown apart in just an instant. Following another spark, only three wings remained.

“Damn it!!!”

Ichigo found himself in a desolate domain. Everything felt dark, hopeless...his own desire to keep going was acting to his detriment, simply prolonging his execution. Causing him more and more pain before the inevitable comes. But that is exactly what showed him the solution.

In between the stabbings, before Beta managed to stab Ichigo, Ichigo, with full confidence, summoned his blade. He held it by the blade itself and used the sharpness to cut his own neck off and destroy it completely.

After the following spark, he was no longer bound to the trap. He flew up, escaping the deadly grasp.

“Damn it, I have only two wings left. That’s the minimum that allows me to fly.”

“The only way I could’ve seen killing this thing was before it used its divine acclamation...now, I’ll have to figure something out. It’s way too strong in its current state.”

“It is wrong to assume that the wrath of the gods can be escaped.” Beta said. Ichigo felt a series of restraints try to capture him again, but Beta was stopped. The entire left side of his body was destroyed.

The Heisei’s gunslinger had enough determination within her to get up after shedding that tear. She had enough strength to climb up after thinking those thoughts. She had enough strength in her to fight even after witnessing the horrors of the opponent.

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“Ichigo...” Jian whispered, her throat was damaged. “Get him...”

Ichigo, obviously, couldn't hear any of that. But the moment he saw her frame in the distance, he remembered even when dealing with this creature, he wasn’t alone. That boost in resolve got him to focus once again, and his presence flared up even more.

“A servant of humanity’s flaws challenged a harbinger of the savior’s will.” Beta said. “They clashed.”

The ink assembled and mended his body. Upon seeing that, Ichigo quickly rushed in, landing another slashing blow on the Nachtvessel. He beat him harder with each punch he landed and attempted to kill him with more resolve with each stabbing attack he threw. But Beta wouldn’t bulge.

The ink managed to mend his body, but not his missing arm. Jian’s efforts were not in vain.

“The foolish servant attempted to strike him down, but fate itself protected the harbinger.” Beta said. The ink crawled onto his body, chipping away at him. Ichigo didn’t bulge at all. Despite seeing visions of an ink silhouette of Lady Aizawa herself and her terrific expression, he continued to fight on.

“The Captain is there. She’s badly hurt, if I die, he’ll kill her for sure.”

“She trusts that I can get the job done.”

“The servant appeared to be immortal.” Beta yelled. “And he was struck down anyway, for his many great flaws and imperfections, for his betrayal!”

A slit appeared on Ichigo’s heart. The ink stabbed him deep enough to where his heart was compromised, and soon, the ink would rip his body apart. Ichigo rose again, with only one wing left. He continued his assault.

“It’s the end now.”

Ichigo quickly closed the distance and kicked him as hard as he could. Beta was knocked away a great distance, and Ichigo chased him down. However, Aizawa’s ink silhouette, similar to the prophet, began to fight as a separate entity. It rushed at Ichigo, striking him away and causing many slicing wounds to open up on his body.

But aside from the ink creature, Beta himself also chose to get close. After trying to fight off both of them at the same time, Ichigo was quickly overwhelmed. The many visions of the stronghold itself began to match with the environment, and the darkness seemed pressuring...and hopeless.

“That day, when I fell asleep on the couch, before I awakened my powers...I thought the world was the darkest it had ever been. I thought that I would die.”

“But I couldn’t allow myself to do so.”

“Even if my life was hell and I was slowly burning myself.”

“The finale of the Servata Cordis theatre dawns upon us.” Beta exclaimed. Aizawa’s figure managed to stab Ichigo in the stomach, and swept him down. She approached him and, by transforming its black left arm into a sharp claw, sliced his head off.

“So many people relied on me. I couldn’t just leave them alone.”

Ichigo’s last wing was shattered apiece. He sat on the ground. He felt

“All I gotta do...”

“You’re a bright kid, so make sure you shine the brightest, okay?”

“...is to keep going.”

“A tale of the defeat of humanity’s greatest flaw.” Beta exclaimed. “A tale that screams at you about how imperfect and pathetic the human condition is.”

Ichigo watched as Aizawa’s figure approached its right palm to his forehead, with the intention of ripping his head off. But instead of his soul presence falling to despair, it spiked.

“ ✦ O, benevolent light... ✦ ”

“CAPTAIN!!!!!!!!!!” Ichigo yelled at the top of his lungs.

The battlefield was once again blessed by an almost angelic light. This time, it was strong enough to disperse whatever small cloud was left in the sky, and the ground prepared for the tremendously powerful impact...

“ ✦ Divine Ring Of Exorcism!!! ✦ ”

The pillar of light enveloped not just Ichigo, but also the figure and the Nachtvessel. The figure dissipated almost immediately. Ichigo navigated inside the light by using his senses to detect Beta’s soul presence. And the latter didn’t figure out another script yet.

Ichigo powered his way through the pain and exhaustion and grabbed Beta by his outfit.

“Resistance against the Servata Cordis...”

Ichigo, with no interest in the speech, started wrestling with Beta, and pushed him...to the outside of the light pillar? He made sure one side of his body remained inside the light, and the other - his back - outside. The only thing he had in mind was to leave him like that for as long as possible. He felt the darkness creep up on him more and more, but remained in that position for as long as possible. So long, in fact, that blood started to accumulate in his eyes.

Eventually, he reached a breaking point. The pillar faded away.

“...is futile.” Beta finished his sentence. The front of his body was horribly scarred and damaged, he himself was at a breaking point. The ink devoured Ichigo’s body, trying to embrace him once again.

Ichigo, with his last remaining strength, activated his invisibility. He kept constantly pressuring Beta, while making sure that he constantly flashed strong lights into his eyes. The combat continued for some time, they circled around one another, Ichigo put all of his efforts into it. But his goal wasn’t to damage him.

“And when resistance shatters, you shall feel despair.” Beta said. The darkness caught up to Ichigo, the ink paralyzed him. All left for him to do was to call upon the finishing blow. But through all of that, Ichigo smiled. He finally left his invisibility...because he no longer obstructed the view.

Through the constant blinding and pressure, Beta didn’t notice that Jian was a hundred or so meters behind him. He didn’t realize that the strange sumo match in the light pillar, and the invisibility, were all connected. The shot was charged up for quite some time.

Once he felt Jian’s soul presence spike, he abruptly turned around. The next second, his head was completely destroyed. His lifeless body fell on the ground.

“Haaah...this thing’s...finally dead...” Ichigo said, as the ink that was holding him in place was voided. His eyes bled a little more, and he collapsed on the ground.

At least the barely-standing Jian was there to look after him...

...

[???]

“So, how’s the gym coming along?”

“Pretty good, actually. Our prospect is gonna make it to the city competition soon. He’s a good kid, I know he won’t disappoint.”

“That’s good to hear, but uhh...”

“Yeah, I know. Numbers aren’t doing too great. I already owe a bunch of people money for the training equipment. Hey, betting everything on a prospect ain’t so bad, right? Do you know how much money they make in boxing?”

“I guess, I guess. Just...let me know if I can help with anything. Oh and uhh...how’s your hobby? Any success yet?”

“What, the playwriting thing? I sent them to a few places, but didn’t get a response so far. This one place though, they said they’d wanna speak to me in person.”

“Dude, that’s huge!”

“I know, I know. If I can turn my hobby into a hustle, maybe getting money would get much easier. Speaking of hustles, you heard about the Soulful Research Institute, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, as you know, I’m a soulful. And they’re offering big cash to people willing to help them with research and stuff.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“I’m thinking of taking the trip to Prague, I’ll have one of my older guys coach here while I’m gone. I’ll go there, make some bucks, and maybe come back and change these old heavy bags, maybe redo the paint job, although it’ll make it so we can’t train here for a while...”

“Come on, save some for yourself too.”

“Eh, I’m fine with it. The kids deserve the best. They’re hungry, they’re talented. They have their whole futures ahead of them, my job is to help them.”