Yushiro sat between them, holding up two fingers on each hand toward the center of Tetsu no Sosuke's and Zenitsu Agatsuma's foreheads as he monitored their mental fluctuations.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered, and he closed them too.
Tetsu no Sosuke felt his consciousness, which should have been sinking into the Inner Spring, abruptly pulled elsewhere.
Everything was hazy. Black mist filled his vision, and within it a lamp flickered, guiding his way.
Tetsu no Sosuke paused, then remembered why he was there.
Is that lamp Yushiro's marker? He pushed through the mist and reached it.
The flickering lamp hung at the entrance to a bridge.
The Stone Bridge looked ancient, rising from the mist and stretching toward somewhere he could not make out.
After a moment's thought, Tetsu no Sosuke stepped onto it.
A wind swept toward him, bitterly cold.
It was only an ordinary wind. Against his body, it should have felt like a gentle breeze.
Yet in that instant, it struck like a bone-chilling gale, nearly scattering his form!
Fortunately, a soft glow shimmered along the Stone Bridge beneath his feet, forming a barrier. Yushiro's voice descended as if from the heavens: "Hurry!"
He sounded so exasperated that it rather spoiled the effect.
Tetsu no Sosuke steadied himself. Though he had questions about what had just happened, he would not pursue them now.
He hurried across the bridge and reached the far side in moments.
Thunderbolts flashed across the sky, striking the earth again and again.
Tetsu no Sosuke looked up in wonder. So this is Zenitsu Agatsuma's inner world?
The thought had barely formed when the scene warped and drew close. Tetsu no Sosuke focused his eyes and found a mansion before him.
A plaque hung above its entrance: Thunder Estate!
Tetsu no Sosuke considered it. *Surely