Chapter 30

(General P.O.V)

Passing through the portal was like jumping through a warm gooey substance. The real fun begun once they made it to the other side.

The second Ash stepped foot in hell, an overwhelming sense of vertigo hit him. He stumbled to the side of the platform they were standing on and vomited out his entire breakfast. He heard retching sounds from a few of the others as well.

Chad was unsteadily holding back Orihime's orange hair as the girl hurled. After vomiting, tremors begun to rock her body. A blue shield of Reiatsu from the bracelet on her wrist covered her body, sensing her distress. The effects were somewhat alleviated but it was not enough.

"Orihime!"

Uryu shouted in concern. Ash and a calm Yoruichi walked to hover around the pair. Seeing things go so wrong this early was like an ominous note about the rest of their mission.

"What's happening to her?"

Uryu asked Yoruichi, the only expert on hell they had.

"It's bad. The atmosphere in here is worse than I thought. It corrupts the mind and poisons the soul. Orihime is most affected because out of everyone else here, she is most incompatible with this realm."

Then answer made Ash scrunch his eyebrows.

"What should we do then? How can we help her?"

Yoruichi walked forward and placed a paw on the shield of energy covering her.

"The bracelet is supposed to help with acclimating to this place and getting rid of the side effects but... Orihime is too good. She won't survive here."

On that grim note, they all looked at one another.

"Wait...I...I can do this..."

The girl in question, Orihime implored, knowing without asking, the thing that was going on in their minds.

"Orihime..."

Uryu trailed off, unsure of how to convince her that they couldn't keep her safe while also looking for Ichigo. Ash saw the indecision in Uryu, Chad and Yoruichi's face and knelt beside Orihime.

The deeply affected girl was able to make eye contact with Ash.

"Every breath you take here is like poison to you."

His hand stretched out and landed on the bracelet Orihime had on her left hand. She tried to tug the arm away but failed.

"They are your friends, so we can't have you blaming them. See you soon, Orihime."

Then he pulled the bracelet off her.

"No..."

Orihime said as the shield of blue covering her caused a portal to appear below her, swallowing her body.

Ash was roughly grabbed on his jacket by Uryuu.

"Why did you do that?!"

Uryuu asked angrily.

"Let him go. We don't have time for this."

Yoruichi admonished, backing away from where Orihime had been.

"Are you serious?"

Uryu turned to address Yoruichi with the same anger.

"Yes. I am."

She looked back at him with her eyes narrowed. Uryuu held the gaze before sighing and letting Ash go.

Ash looked at the other teen's retreating back and narrowed his eyes, fixing his jacket.

"Thanks."

Chad told him from the side, causing Ash to look at him in surprise. He smiled and nodded, accepting the gratitude. At least Chad was more understanding than Uryu.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The other two were surveying the world they had stumbled into. Ash and Chad walked to stand next to Uryu and the former captain of the Onmitsukido.

"Whoa... anyone else get the vibe of computer generated cubes?"

Ash questioned.

Before them was a world of grid. White cube platforms that were of different sizes made up a world of blocky shapes only broken by the blue long platforms interspaced in the middle of a number of cubes.

"The first layer."

The whole first layer was silent except for occasional screams as the Kushinada, huge monster like humanoid creatures acted as guards and punishers to the Togabito or rather, sinners. They patrolled the blocky landscape, phasing through the cubes as if they weren't there and grabbing sinners too slow to escape before devouring them in gory fashion.

"So how are we doing this? I doubt going around this place looking for Ichigo will be as effective as we think."

Ash found himself saying. In response, Yoruichi looked at Uryuu.

"If you don't mind?"

Uryuu wordlessly adjusted his glasses before reaching into his quincy garb's pockets and withdrawing a small blocky device in the shape of a pen. A scanner that looked different from the one which Rukia and Ash had used to hunt down the Hollow but with a few similarities in function. There was a difference though. Instead of showing the relative position of their target on the screen, the device had a small array of blinking lights across its lengths.

Before Uryu could do much of anything, loud steps sounded out as multiple Kushinada were wising up to the different energy signatures that had just arrived in their world. They turned towards Ash and the others and begun walking towards them.

"Ah...maybe you should turn on that thing before company arrives."

Ash pointed to their sides, as the Kushinada started to come for them from different directions, covering any escape routes.

Chad's arm underwent changes as he shifted his stance to cover their left. Uryuu quickly fiddled with the device, causing it to activate with a small hum. He aimed the device to their sides and observed as the first blinking light activated in a silver light. He waved it around, and the second blinking light appeared, shining green. He aimed a little to the right and immediately, 3 more blinking lights appeared, indicating the general direction of Ichigo's Reiatsu.

"He's Alive."

Uryuu said with a sigh, a weight being lifted off his shoulder.

"That might not be true for us if we stay here."

Chad's words sprang Uryuu into action.

"Follow me! Let's go."

He jumped off the surface of the cube they were standing on and begun to run straight ahead.

Ash took a second to grab Yoruichi before jumping after Uryuu and Chad, using his flight ring to pull in a little ahead, due to the massive Kushinada blocking their way.

"Hang on."

He warned Yoruichi, then increased his speed to it's maximum.

A sonic boom erupted from behind his flying form, leaving a small explosion of air. Ash's heart was beating faster than ever before. His actions were however conducted with the confidence of someone who believed in their own power.

"Wait!..."

Yoruichi came in too late.

"Yaaahhhh!!!!"

He pulled his hand back and hardened his body before impacting his fist right on the Kushinada's bony forehead. The Kushinada's head was thrown back as it lost balance and fell on more cubes, this time it did not phase through and ended up crushing over a dozen of Togabito under it's weight.

Ash on the other hand felt every bone in his hand break under the durable bone of the Kushinada's head. He had thought that that would work.

The pain from the hit disoriented him so much that he ended up losing his concetration and falling through the air. His right hip smashed onto the side of a cube painfully. The hit roused him from his distracted state and he managed to slow down his descent before he smacked onto the ground.

"You impatient fool!"

Yoruichi admonished Ash once he landed to the blue platform, cradling his arm painfully. He winced at every sudden movement, he slowly got to his feet and stumbled to hide behind a cube, escaping the Kushinada's sight.

Once hidden he allowed the groan of pain to escape him. Removing the heavy jacket with one arm while enduring the dressing down Yoruichi was giving him was not the most fun thing he had ever done. He used the arms of his jacket to secure his injured arm properly to his chest.

He had known that the punch he had thrown had been stupid right after throwing it. If he was capable, he would turn back time and make sure he did not take the stupid risk. After all if a time loop styled system existed, a time machine was not too out of left field, right?

"Your entire arm is shattered." Yoruichi observed, looking at the hanging limb with lacerations across it's length. A few bones were peeking through the skin of the hand. There was no way he was going to fight in this condition.

"Seriously, what were you thinking?"

Yoruichi asked in anger.

Ash felt ashamed and looked away.

"In any case what's done is done."

"I cleared the way..."

Ash whispered to Yoruichi. The small feline blinked her eyes at him.

"So? You took down one Kushinada. And there are countless of them."

He winced, just as Yoruichi jumped onto his shoulder.

"Really. I was not expecting this sort of lack of foresight from you Ash."

Ash was embarrassed and besides that, his hand was in a lot of pain. He felt like slapping himself. Because of his pride and a need to show off, he had probably hurt the group as they would be down one man. Him. There was no way he was going to fight like this.

'Didnt even get to make it to a mini boss fight. I am literally the worst MC in the world. If this was an Isekai.' He shook his head. What was he even saying? This world was real. The fact that there was no plot armor to ensure that he succeeded was evidence enough. Real life was realistic and failure was a thing.

Activity begun rising from all around them. Togabito, those hiding from the Kushinada would peek from behind the shadows and structures inbuilt in the world of cubes. For now, none of them were doing anything so Ash and Yoruichi kept it cool.

"Look at their eyes. They have lost the will to leave this place. To fight back."

Ash commented, trying to distract himself from the pain he was feeling. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead.

"Uryuu and Chad are almost here." Yoruichi told him. Ash opened his mouth to refuse before noticing the look on her face.

"We will scout the first layer some more and stop it at there. We can't move on to the second layer without you. We wouldn't have the manpower."

In other words, if he hadn't fucked up then Maybe they would have already reached the second layer and started looking for Ichigo's whereabouts.

'I really fucked up this time.'