Matsumi found himself in a garden soon after. A beautiful day, no one else in the world but him and the flowers that sat under his feet.
"What is this place? Did I get pushed to the next floor already?!"
A woman stood across from Matsumi. Her black hair blowing in the wind as she looked towards him. She took some steps forward, the space so silent her foot steps through the grass were loud.
She stood in front of Matsumi, the sun showing off her shadow and figure.
"Welcome Young Man…You're in the Collective Unconscious…"
She took a few steps around him, perhaps even examining him in the same way that he too examined others, only this time it was much more serious. Maybe even malicious to an extent.
"…You're currently asleep in Heldor's Tower…On the eleventh floor…You spoke to Urieru and The Eraba girl…isn't that right?"
"Yeah…I did."
Matsumi followed her slow movements around him, turning his head to always be able to look at her. Immediately he thought back to that man from before, was this the same as that time?
"What do you mean asleep? Who are you?"
"I mean exactly as I say. Currently you fell unconscious with the two women.."
She stopped walking, soon after simply standing in front of him once more.
"My name is Kyōki Zenin…The brother of Ashi and ToshiroZenin. A warrior that saved the world fifteen years ago."
"Kyōki? Wait…I know you! I've heard your name back home! But, you're supposed to be dead! Right?"
Wide eyes would take over his face, genuine surprise and confusion. Not only had Nomuro told him of her fate, but now he could put a face to the name he'd heard from a certain Mr. Moon in the past.
"Yes…I am supposed to be dead. You're correct…However, I am not. I simply exist in this domain now…For the rest of time I will stay here."
Kyōki spoke with a sadness in her voice, perhaps a melancholy.
"Between the time of Lucifer's defeat and the current time an enemy came to the land of Yoshiwara…In order to defeat them I sealed myself to this land…It was the only way to atone for my sins fully…and was the only way I could defeat them….I said my final goodbyes…and my death was framed as suicide to protect the world from knowing of this being…but…It wasn't that simple…."
Kyōki looked down in disappointment, she wore a long black dress, the bottom sat in the grass as the flowers swayed once more with her garments.
"You trapped yourself here to beat someone and to atone? Why? Did you do something bad? This place doesn't look like a prison.."
"They were an immortal being ….One that was capable of destroying the world we lived in. They were unkillable by conventional means."
Kyōki looked down after his second question.
"I did a lot of bad things in my life..Things that I regret to this day…My life would be different if I didn't do those things. You might've even known me as an ally…That aside, I ended up sealing both of our souls here in our final battle. Thus, saving the world from her possible terror…However, the nature of her being allowed her to travel between dimensions…she found a way to escape…and with it she birthed the seven deadly sins. The ones that captured your teacher Barghest."
"You know them?!"
He quickly moved closer to Kyōki.
"Take me to them! If I can just skip all the floors she won't have to wait as long! You're the first ever witch, right?! You gotta have some crazy awesome magic that can take me there!"
"….As you are now there's no way you could possibly take all seven of them on…You would die in front of her…and that's her worst fear of them all…You dying Matsumi."
"That's what everyone I fought said, they still lost to me! Besides, her only fear is the end of the world, she told me a while ago!"
"Yes. It's true you overcame the odds so far…but the sins are an entirely different threat..the leader that you saw with the red eye is dangerous…and he holds the eye that you hold too…The eye of the Sāmatu…"
Kyōki paused, a small graphic appeared behind them.
"He plans on reviving the witch of despair..and with her, he plans on absorbing all of Heldor's tower and its mana..before targeting that world that you love..consuming that too..it's why they initially captured Kibō..Despite her innocent presence she is powerful, maybe just as strong as me…however she has no affinity for fighting…and because of that her mana is simply used for her techniques."
Kyōki made sure to be gentle on Matsumi about Barghest. She knew what it felt like to talk about these ideas.
"Long ago that may have been true…However, the world changes as we live doesn't it?….Barghest's world is you Matsumi…and her worst is fear is losing the thing she loves most in this world..which is you…"
Kyōki looked down in silence.
"I'm sorry…but I cannot send you there in good faith. I would be throwing you into the wolves to die…You must learn more before you can fight Kurati."
"She…does?"
He dropped his shoulders at this, he hadn't ever thought that Barghest would care about him in that way. Before she would always either scold him or keep him close all the time without letting him explore. He just assumed she was annoyed all the time, but he didn't mind. In his eyes she could see he was thinking, much more than he would usually show.
"Then…if you won't take me there, why did you bring me here? Just send me back. I have to go through the floors!"
His voice had more urgency now.
"…To tell you about the being that is now in the world..and to prevent you from seeing the vision Urieru was going to show you..and so I used the collective unconscious to knock you unconscious."
She showed a small vision of him behind her. Matsumi was asleep in one of the beds the eleventh floor offered.
"…Matsumi, you must defeat that being once you return to the real world..otherwise a great tragedy will bequeath you…one that will shatter your heart into pieces…they call you the child of fate. Go and change it before you suffer just as I did. I didn't believe it was possible…I thought that it wasn't, and that it was a silly concept that only existed in books…but one man showed me that wasn't true by any stretch of the imagination…Perhaps it's a silly concept to you because it's foreign and unrealistic…but trust me when I say that it is real, and you are the only one who can change it…It may not mean much since you've only heard of me through word of mouth..but I believe in you..and see in you what I saw in the man I speak of long ago…"
"That man..?"
Matsumi walked a little to the side to get a better look at his own unconscious body.
"You don't have to tell me twice, lady. I never planned to follow Urieru's visions anyway. If that being wants to hurt Barghest and Kibō then I already made up my mind!"
Kyōki smiled.
"Very well…I will be watching from here Matsumi…I hope you do well. I want to offer you a gift before I go."
Kyōki reached into the empty space, before a small gift box appeared. She placed it in his hand.
"Go ahead."
He examined it, unusre if it was magic or not. Matsumi ripped the top off the box off, peering inside.
When Matsumi opened the box, he could see a small necklace. A mana melted off of it, hitting him in the face. It was hot, and it defniitely burned his eyes immediately.
It was clear it wasn't just some regular neckalce, and was one that had something to do with magic from the First Witch in history.
"Ow!"
He nearly dropped the box and the necklace at the sudden heat that hit his eyes.
"I thought this was a gift! It hurt!"
"I apologize...it's pretty hot from the Mana that lies within it....I ask that you please try and wear it..."
"This better not burn me too.."
He placed the box down for a second. First he would take off Barghest's talisman from his neck, wrapping it around his wrist to make it into a bracelet with the gem facing upwards. Then, with caution, he'd take the magic necklace and put it on.
The necklace cooled off once he put it on. It bounded to him, almost like it was apart of him.
"There you have it...I hope that you'll find that of good use.."
"Thanks but…it just stuck to me! What does it do?"
"All you need to do is tap the necklace. See what it does."
"Okay…"
He tapped the necklace now stuck to his chest.
When Matsumi tapped it, A white aura simply engulfed him, soon after lightning struck his body, However, there was no pain. Instead Matsumi felt energized, maybe five or six times more than he usually did. The white aura around him radiated so hard it was making a large vibrating noise that echoed throughout the collective unconscious.
"In my time as a child there was a technique called the lightning cloak. Unfortunately that technique is no more as it is..However, with that necklace you have an upgraded version of it..I saw your fights...Your power isn't the highest, but you are very fast and Athletic, and if you pair that with your volleyball technique. With a bit of mastery you can become one of the fastest people in the world. You won't need to overpower or form much of a plan against the sins if you use this necklace."
"Woah! I feel like I can run a lap around anyone right now!"
He looked at his hands, the white aura radiating around him.
"I can just use this whenever?!"
"Yes…there is large amounts of mana in the necklace..You shouldn't run out anytime soon…But it isn't infinite and it needs to charge…."
"That's good enough for me!"
In a way to test it out a little he'd dash around, the high energy coursing through felt exceptionally good.
"Now what's interesting is that you also have access to the flash step and the flash punch..If you use the lightning not only will those things be faster…they will have more power."
"You can kind of think of it as a super flash punch."
"I'd go even faster? Sick! I already have a special idea in mind."
"Yes…but have you ever thought deeper than that?"
"What do you mean?"