Help! I am bound to Aizen!

Chapter 187

Chapter 187

Over the next day, Kaelith seemed to have lost his mind.

Kisuke Urahara stood in the Technology Bureau’s main hall, arriving at this rather delightful conclusion.

Yesterday, that guy had grabbed him by the neck, refusing to listen to reason. Just as Urahara was about to rebel, unleash Benihime’s invincible might, and seize the throne, Kaelith suddenly got excited and ran off.

As he ran, he kept shouting things like, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I’ve finally figured it out!”

Under the astonished gazes of Urahara and Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Kaelith dashed into an empty laboratory and slammed the door shut.

Since then, he hadn’t come out.

Swoosh!

A door nearby opened. Mayuri walked out in his white coat, stretching lazily. Seeing Urahara, he paused and glanced at the lab where Kaelith had locked himself in.

“He’s still inside?” Mayuri asked, surprised.

“Still inside,” Urahara confirmed.

“Done for, he’s gone mad.” Mayuri widened his eyes, reaching the same conclusion as Urahara.

After a brief discussion, they decided to go knock on the door.

But before they got close, a voice sounded from inside:

“Experiment in progress! Do not disturb!”

They looked at each other, both seeing shock mirrored in the other’s eyes. Kaelith was still alive—cough, still awake—and not asleep inside that lab.

Kaelith, wide awake, spending an entire day alone in a lab? This bordered on a supernatural tale.

Though tempted to open the door and see what he was up to, Urahara hesitated, recalling Kaelith’s iron-fisted discipline. As for using Benihime’s supposed invincibility to defeat Kaelith? That had been just bragging. Who would take it seriously?

…

Inside the lab, Kaelith stood with his arms folded over his chest. A patch of shadow, like thick ink, swirled at his feet.

Since last night, he’d been toying with his Zanpakut?’s Kageuchi power. Mayuri had it right: hiding a large laboratory in Hueco Mundo, a place filled with powerful enemies, was virtually impossible—unless he created a special space.

When it came to special spaces, didn’t his shadow count as one?

Ky?raku Shunsui could slip into a shadow world and strike unexpectedly. Although Kaelith had never developed a similar ability, since both powers were shadow-related, why couldn’t he do it?

Sure enough, through repeated trials, Kaelith felt he was on the verge of understanding how.

As one’s horizons broadened, so did their abilities. The strength he’d gained earlier from his growth and experiences wasn’t just numerical; his comprehension of the essence of power had deepened as well.

Eyeing the churning shadow at his feet, Kaelith picked up a piece of paper, crumpled it, and tossed it down. The paper ball paused slightly on the shadow’s surface, then slowly sank in.

He’d done it!

Seeing the paper vanish into his shadow, Kaelith’s eyes lit up. He had taken the hardest step toward creating a shadow space. Next, he just needed practice to deepen his understanding, expanding the shadow space until it could hold an entire laboratory. Then, with Kisuke Urahara and Aizen’s technical expertise, stabilizing and semi-permanently fixing the space would be easy.

Kaelith smirked, imagining Aizen’s stunned, bewildered, and delighted expression upon seeing the hidden lab. After all this, wouldn’t Aizen practically worship him?

Kaelith figured that, since they were friends, he shouldn’t take too much advantage. It would be enough if Aizen greeted him by calling him “daddy” whenever they met.

Chuckling righteously, Kaelith began the work of expanding his shadow space. In less than a day, he’d grown it large enough to accommodate an entire room. At this pace, he would likely finish before the next time he had to change Kuchiki K?ga’s solution.

Satisfied, Kaelith stretched and rolled his shoulders, preparing to finish the job in one go. But just as he expanded the shadow space to about the size of two rooms, he sensed that his shadow space had encountered something.

It was as if he’d planned to carve out a fireplace in a wall, only to suddenly break through into someone else’s room.

He nearly laughed at the absurdity. In the entire Seireitei, only he and Ky?raku had shadow-based powers. Ky?raku was in the Eighth Division barracks, practically a district away. How could their shadow spaces collide here?

But as he thought this, Kaelith increased his efforts, determined to see what was blocking him. Could he have hit some kind of world barrier?

After pushing a few times, he felt his shadow space break through something. He was about to extend his awareness to see what it was when he suddenly sensed something squeeze in from the other side, falling right into his shadow space.

It felt like… a person?!

Startled, he lost focus and failed to maintain the shadow space. The intruder that had tumbled in was forced back out into reality, landing right in front of him.

Kaelith: “…”

The intruder: “…”

Staring at the kneeling figure before him—a young girl in a white uniform and cap—Kaelith’s eyes narrowed in thought. The girl’s eyes were wide, filled with utter disbelief.

For a moment, silence filled the air.

Then, the girl let out a shocked cry and jumped up. Kaelith sneered, leaping at her, pressing down on her head and slamming her to the ground.

“Fiend from beyond this realm, disguised as a human to fool me? You think you can deceive my keen eyes?!”

With that, he manipulated the shadow to form ropes, tying her up neatly and securely, even adding some decorative knots.

Pinned to the floor, the girl struggled in vain. Just a few hours ago, she had been basking in glory, newly honored. Now, she was in some inexplicable place, captured and bound.

This insane reversal made her suspect she was dreaming. But the cold hardness of the floor against her face and the painful tightness of her bonds proved this was real.

Infuriated, she shouted at Kaelith, “Who’s a fiend? I’m Bambietta Basterbine, a genius newly inducted into the Sternritter!”

“How dare you insult me! I’ll kill you—kill you a hundred times over!”

Hearing this, Kaelith froze.