My Sister is Bronya Chapter 9

The laboratory was currently engulfed by an invisible, yet undeniably present, energy storm.

Most of the equipment and research apparatus within the lab were tossed about like puppets in a chaotic dance, manipulated by unseen strings. They flew everywhere, turning the entire laboratory into a mess.

However, at the very center, Seele was surrounded by an invisible barrier. No matter how tumultuous things were outside, her immediate surroundings remained as calm as ice.

But Ishiu knew that beneath this tranquility lay something unimaginable.

He pushed forward, step by difficult step, against the surging energy storm, making his way towards Seele.

It wasn't that he didn't want to rush over quickly. To withstand the terrifying energy storm, he was already using all his strength just to maintain his footing. Otherwise, he would be swept away like the laboratory equipment, flying in all directions.

"See-Seele, don't be afraid, I'm coming now! You have to hold on!" Ishiu gritted his teeth, advancing step by step, shouting loudly to Seele.

But the laboratory was already a cacophony of noise, and with the alarms blaring incessantly, Ishiu wasn't sure if Seele could even hear him. He could only brace himself and keep moving forward.

Swish!

A sharp piece of metal, torn apart by the energy storm, flew towards Ishiu. He tried to dodge, but couldn't. He could only manage to protect his vital areas, allowing the sharp metal to slice across his arm, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.

"Hiss—" Ishiu let out a muffled groan. The intense pain sent his mind into a brief blank. However, this incident was merely the beginning.

Following that, a second, then a third, and seemingly endless barrage of objects were hurled at Ishiu.

Ishiu felt as though he were Tang Sanzang enduring the eighty-one tribulations. He dodged what he could, and for what he couldn't, he protected his vital spots.

Even so, by the time he finally reached Seele's side, he was covered in blood. His arm was so badly injured that white bone was faintly visible, and there wasn't a single unblemished spot on his entire body.

The worst incident was when a cabinet smashed into his head. If he hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed the edge of Seele's lab table, he would have been sent flying.

During this ordeal, he thought he heard Cocolia and Little Pudding's voices. They sounded very agitated, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Haa... haa..."

Ishiu panted heavily, his body aching all over, his mind fuzzy. If he could, he would have loved to close his eyes and sleep right then.

But he knew he hadn't endured all this hardship just to rest.

He forced his eyelids open, and from the world that had turned red, he managed to make out Seele. He gently shook her body and whispered in a voice as hoarse as a broken gong, "Seele, it's okay now. Brother's here."

"Ishiu... brother..."

As if hearing his call, a hint of relief appeared on Seele's pained, contorted little face. Then, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Seele, are you alright?" Ishiu clasped her hand. He felt as though Seele's hand had lost all warmth and sensation. If he hadn't seen her lying on the lab table, he wouldn't have believed she was really there.

"Ishiu-brother... hurry and leave... don't mind me, or you'll... also be assimilated by Quantum Assimilation..."

Seele seemed to muster all her strength to utter these words before her eyes closed again.

Ishiu froze. Quantum Assimilation?

He looked down. Indeed, the hand he was holding Seele with was beginning to fade. Yet, he felt nothing himself; even his sense of pain seemed to have vanished.

The sensation was peculiar, like someone doodling on a piece of white paper and then erasing it.

He and Seele were the doodles being erased.

"What a joke! I... I absolutely won't let anything happen to you!" Ishiu gritted his teeth and, with all his might, lifted Seele from the lab table.

However, before he could even take a step forward, Ishiu felt the world spin. The scenery before him changed rapidly. The white walls, the flying equipment, and... the figure of Little Pudding outside the door, desperately trying to rush in, all receded quickly.

By the time Ishiu reacted, he was stunned to find himself in a completely unfamiliar space.

He stood on a floating stone slab, surrounded by chaos, like a fog that obscured any sense of an end.

Beside him were many other such stone slabs, varying in size and irregular in shape. The only commonality was that they were all broken.

Below the slabs lay a bottomless abyss, and just a glance sent a chill down Ishiu's spine. An inexplicable voice in his heart warned him not to fall, as if falling would lead to unimaginable consequences.

Above, the sky seemed to be covered by dark clouds. As far as the eye could see, there was not a hint of light. However, in the center, a seven-colored radiant glow broke through, as if tearing open a rift, injecting a sliver of hope into this seemingly lifeless world.

Ishiu didn't understand how he had gotten here from the laboratory, but he remembered Seele's words.

"Is this... Quantum Assimilation?"

Ishiu didn't dwell on it for long. He quickly scanned his surroundings, looking for Seele. If he could come to this place, then Seele must be here too.

Ishiu vaguely guessed that he was in this strange space with his consciousness, or perhaps his soul, because his previously bloodied body was now completely unharmed. This was enough to explain everything.

"Seele! Seele!"

He scanned the space, calling out Seele's name, but received no response.

Until, at the very bottom of the seven-colored radiant glow, on a stone slab, he faintly saw a hint of blue.

"Seele!"

Ishiu, almost instinctively, was certain it was Seele, even though he couldn't see clearly.

Little Angel.jpg

Chapter 21: Tentacles

He immediately rushed towards that direction. Although there was no path, he used the floating, dilapidated stone slabs and the Flash Walk of the Seven Nights Assassination Technique, as if walking on solid ground. His speed did not decrease at all.

Soon, as he advanced and descended, Ishiu gradually made out the blue figure. As expected, it was Seele.

She was lying quietly on the stone slab, her beautiful eyes tightly closed, seemingly unconscious.

But the stone slab beneath her was slowly descending, as if intending to drag Seele into the endless abyss.

Ishiu grew increasingly anxious. His feet flickered with afterimages as he leaped and darted through the air, pushing the Flash Walk technique to its absolute limit.

Finally, he landed on the stone slab where Seele was.

"Seele! Seele! Wake up!" Ishiu scooped Seele up from the slab and called her name urgently. However, like a sleeping beauty, Seele offered no response.

Ishiu pursed his lips and glanced at the dark, bottomless abyss below. He knew this was no time for hesitation. Since Seele couldn't be woken up for now, he'd take her up first.

With his decision made, Ishiu held Seele in his arms, exerted force beneath his feet, and leaped. He shot upwards as if he had taken flight, landing on a stone slab nearly ten meters higher.

[Flash Walk - One Rabbit]

"Ishiu... Brother?"

As Ishiu was hopping along, Seele, cradled in his arms, slowly opened her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm right here." Seeing Seele finally awake, Ishiu's heart leaped with joy. He temporarily stopped on the stone slab beneath his feet, wanting to check on Seele's condition.

"How do you feel? Are you okay?"

"Ishiu Brother, why are you here? Didn't I tell you to leave quickly?" Without answering Ishiu's question, Seele bit her lower lip, her gaze towards Ishiu filled with both anxiety and gratitude.

Ishiu looked at her calmly, his tone peaceful yet imbued with an unshakeable resolve that emanated from his very core. "Do you think I would just stand by and watch you get hurt? You call me 'Brother,' so I have to bear the responsibility of a brother. As long as I'm here, I will never let anything happen to you."

"Brother..." Seele stared blankly at Ishiu, tears welling up in her azure eyes.

"Alright, now is not the time for sentimentality. We can talk about anything after we're out of danger." Ishiu wasn't one for excessive displays of emotion. He didn't have the heart to indulge in a moment of sibling affection with Seele at a time like this. Safety first, then everything else.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Brother." Seele nodded obediently, her hands instinctively tightening their grip around Ishiu's neck.

"By the way, Seele, do you know where we are? How do we get back? And what is this Quantum Assimilation?"

"This space we're in should be the edge of the Sea of Quantum," Seele said hesitantly. She wasn't entirely sure, but a gut feeling told her this was the Sea of Quantum.

"The Sea of Quantum, Brother, you can think of it as another dimension, a dimension connected to our world. If we stay here too long, we'll undergo Quantum Assimilation and be completely absorbed into the Sea of Quantum."

"What happens if we go in there?" Ishiu asked.

"I don't know, but... we probably wouldn't be able to come back..." Seele whispered.

"I understand. So, how do we get back?"

"There, in the gap between the Sea of Quantum and the world. If we can reach that place, we should be able to return," Seele said, pointing towards the streak of colorful light above them.

"Is it up there?" Ishiu looked up. The spot seemed quite far, but with the floating stone slabs around, it wasn't impossible to reach.

"Excellent. Seele, hold on tight to me. I'll take you back right away." Ishiu breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing how to get out made things much easier.

"Mhm, Ishiu Brother, I believe in you." Seele shifted her position, now resting on Ishiu's back. She gently rested her cheek against Ishiu's neck and said softly.

Without further hesitation, Ishiu continued his upward journey, hopping from slab to slab.

"Hoo... hoo..."

About halfway to their destination, Ishiu's pace began to slow, and his breathing grew ragged.

But this was normal. He was only human, not a god.

After hopping down to the lowest level and then carrying Seele for so long, even an iron body would start to give out.

"Brother, why don't we rest for a bit?" Seele asked, her voice laced with concern, as she wiped the sweat from Ishiu's brow.

"No need. I'm not tired yet. We're almost there. We'll be going back soon."

Of course, saying he wasn't tired was a lie. While Ishiu wasn't sure if he was a projection of consciousness or a soul, the physical fatigue was very real. However, seeing the colorful light getting closer, his excitement grew, temporarily overriding his physical exhaustion.

But life is full of unexpected turns. The Sea of Quantum, which even Cocolia feared, was not a place one could simply enter and leave at will.

Just as Ishiu landed on a stone slab, preparing to leap again, a sudden premonition struck him. An intense sense of danger washed over him, leaving him no time to think. Instinctively, he dodged to the side.

Bang!

The spot where Ishiu had been moments before was struck by a deep purple, tentacle-like object, sending shards of rock flying.

"What is this..."

With a brief respite, Ishiu turned back. The moment he saw what was behind him, his pupils contracted sharply. From the abyss below, countless deep purple tentacles writhed and stretched, surging towards Ishiu like a swarm of snakes.

"Holy crap!"

Ishiu couldn't help but curse. What in the world was this?! It was so disgusting!

"Ishiu Brother, hurry! Those are Quantum Tentacles! Don't let them grab you, or we'll be trapped in the Sea of Quantum forever!" Seele's face turned pale. She clutched Ishiu's neck tightly, her gaze darting away from the tentacles in fear, unable to look any longer.

"Damn it! I'm not a magical girl, what the hell do you want with tentacles!" Without Seele needing to say it, Ishiu knew he couldn't get caught by these things. Perhaps it was due to the sheer volume of similar content he'd consumed in his past life, but he actually found tentacles rather cute.

Of course, he didn't feel that way when they were coming for him.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Mission Complete

Ishiu exerted force beneath his feet, sprinting with all his might. His speed was even faster than before. It was true that people could unleash their potential in times of danger.

But the swarm of tentacles pursued relentlessly, as if Ishiu were a bottle of energy drink, sticking close to his heels, their speed even greater than his.

If these tentacles weren't mindless, and if Ishiu couldn't easily dodge them with his agility, he would have already been tied up in some lewd pose.

However, this didn't mean he was out of the woods yet, as the sheer number of tentacles was overwhelming. Even Ishiu, who didn't suffer from trypophobia, was getting goosebumps.

He didn't even dare to look back, afraid that such an action would ruin all his efforts.

During this, what confused Ishiu was that the tentacles' main targets seemed to be Seele. He felt like a freebie, an extra thrown in with a purchase; they weren't particularly interested in him.

Ishiu shared his confusion with Seele, and she provided an explanation.

"I think it's because I've been assimilated by Quantum Assimilation for too long, so they want to take me into the Sea of Quantum."

"I see," Ishiu said, enlightened. Thinking about it, he hadn't even been in this strange space for twenty minutes. It seemed he wasn't interesting enough for these tentacles yet.

Seele looked at the ever-increasing number of tentacles behind them and then at the boundary, still some distance away. She wondered if both she and Ishiu would be able to escape if things continued like this.

But when she realized the tentacles were primarily after her, an idea formed in her mind. However, she didn't want to voice it.

She knew Ishiu would never agree to her request, so she could only...

"Seele."

Ishiu's voice in her ear jolted Seele from her thoughts.

"What is it, Brother Ishiu?" she asked.

"Hold onto me tightly and absolutely do not let go," Ishiu said calmly. "If you fall, I will pull you back up, no matter the cost."

"...Brother..." Seele's eyes widened involuntarily. She stared blankly at Ishiu's profile, which, though young, felt more reliable than even Mother Cocolia. Had he already figured out her plan?

Just as Seele knew Ishiu wouldn't abandon her, Ishiu understood Seele's personality just as well. He knew that at times like these, this girl often made the choice that seemed easiest and most "correct" in her own mind.

Therefore, he wouldn't stand by and let that happen. He had said he would bring Seele back, and he would definitely bring her back!