Selfless Transformations, Comprehensions, and the things Kai want the most

It truly was a brilliant question.

Breathing Styles, by nature, depended on practicing the Breathing Arts. The more one trained on them, the better they would become. All demon slayers knew it, and such had been taught to Kai by Shinobu, too.

So why Kai wasn't practicing this Breathing Art all the time, rather than allotting only an hour from his 3 hours long Identity Period? The answer wasn't something complex.

It was because there was no point.

The Breathing Styles, as known to the Demon Slayers, depended on regulating their blood circulation, bringing out power from its flow and rhythm. The more they practiced it, the better their grasp became over this regulation. With time, they could maintain this state longer, to the point that the top Demon Slayers, the Hashiras, could even maintain it constantly. Hence the name, Total Concentration Constant.

Kai's Selfless Breathing Style differed too much from these Breathing Styles.

The power behind the Selfless Breathing Style didn't just come from Blood flow regulation, but it went even deeper. Even though Kai hadn't derived this Breathing Style from Sun Breathing, it wasn't like there wasn't a model behind its creation. There was.

Forbidden Technique - Serpent God's Wrath!

This technique lets Kai squeeze out all power from his body and concentrate it on a singular part of his body, like limbs or throat. This power originated from every strand of his muscles, his tendons, his bones, his flesh, and his will. Selfless Breathing lets Kai diffuse this power throughout his body, boosting his base stats, with no chances of aftereffects.

This was what gave Kai's breathing a distinct bloody look as though his figure was burning in Blood Flames.

This method of breathing brought Kai unimaginable power for a short time, but it also hindered further growth. With his current Stats, Kai could only squeeze out his body's true potential for 30 minutes. Increasing this duration for even one minute could very well turn out to be an impossible task.

It was such a difficult procedure that Kai believed even hundreds of years of Breathing wouldn't let him reach the Total Concentration Constant.

For now, he must take it slowly, Kai knew. Half an hour of Selfless Breathing wasn't something one could casually overlook.

Then there was the matter of Transformations.

Unlike Demon Slayers' Breathing Styles, which had Forms, i.e. the ways in which a swordsman was meant to use the sword, Kai's Transformations weren't so simple.

Because they had originated from Comprehension, not training and hours of practice.

For example, take the First Transformation of the Selfless Breathing Style, Three-Headed Vritra. It was a result of Kai's Comprehension during his fight with Akaza. And this Comprehension revolved around only one word.

Destruction!

Men, Women, Animals, Beings, Mortal, or Divine… Destroy everything!

A monstrous frontal charge fused with raw power, annihilating everything in its path. Even Kai himself couldn't alter its direction or stop it midway.

The extra arms and heads that Kai gained in this Transformation weren't real, but they weren't virtual as well.

Kai's Comprehension used his Selfless Breathing Style to reforge his fighting spirit, his Will, giving it a Transformation. This Transformation manifested in the real world as Three-Headed Vritra, gaining ethereal substance. Neither it was real nor false.

Hence the word Transformation, not Form, as it was a transformation of Self. And it could only be done by first discarding it.

This was a ridiculously powerful use of the Breathing Style, but it had similar drawbacks as well.

One must not forget that it was a Comprehension that had birthed it.

No one could train to comprehend or gain epiphanies and understandings because they just desired it. Comprehensions dawned spontaneously.

Kai had learned his First Transformation in the battle because he was already Comprehending Selfless Breathing Style then.

The next Comprehension might dawn on him in the next moment, or it might come after a thousand years. None could say.

There was even a chance that he might never learn it, and the Selfless Breathing Style would die with only one Transformation to it.

This was the sole reason for Kai to not force his training. 3 hours of Breathing wouldn't change anything, so he might as well take it slow.

Kai told all this to the Characters, and the shadow of doubt vanished from their faces.

As he saw them relaxing, Kai nodded inwardly. It was he who had instructed them to ask any question related to Kai and his plans whenever they wanted. Not only did it let Kai double-check his thoughts, but it also let him advance in his Comprehension of Facelessness, letting his mind wander away from Darcie's life.

"Let's move on," Kai said, gesturing towards the diary.

Rintaro flipped the pages, and then his eyes gave out a brilliant glint, the red of the fire becoming redder in his pupils. "Yes, this one we must deal with first," he declared. "Mr. Storm, you should buy several packs of condoms…"

A trace of Kai's bloodlust seeped out of his calm eyes, and Rintaro shuddered, scratching the point off. The scientist mumbled something under his breath, and then said, "We need scientific types of equipment for our research, Mr. Storm, and the sooner the better. Then there's the matter of the Philosopher's Stone as well. All in all, we need Mission Credits. A lot of them."

Petyr chuckled at Rintaro's side. "There's even a bigger problem, my lord," he said, slyly. "Let's inspect our situation and what we must get and do in the future. Three parts of Daemonologie, In Forme of a Dialogue, and their whereabouts. The supposed alive, and hidden dagger, Herpo the Foul. Ancient Magical Script and Parseltongue. The matter with Philosopher's Stone and Eon Soul Dew. Heh! Let's not forget about the minister and her plans.

"Not to mention, our main objective of coming to this World, the Wandlore, hasn't even begun yet. And now there's this, the mysterious map of unknown origins, and obviously related to the Darkest Magic and era."

Littlefinger's every word was like a strike of lightning, jolting Kai's thoughts. He ran his hands through his long white hair and couldn't help but frown.

"There's a labyrinth made of the thickest and most poisonous mist around us, my lord," Petyr told Kai, continuing the thunderous barrage. "We have no way to know in which direction we must go. From here onwards, every step would have drastic consequences on our plans. We can't afford a single divergence from some irrelevant branch in his labyrinth. We need something to point us in the right direction. And we need it now."

Kai looked into Littlefinger's eyes and he knew what this Character was trying to say. He closed his eyes, drummed his fingers, and let himself think over this suggestion for a few seconds.

At last, he had to nod.

"What's going on?" Rintaro asked, his head turning from Kai to Petyr, and then back to Kai. "Am I missing something here?"

"Petyr is saying that it is the most appropriate time for us to get our hands over that Item," Kai whispered, looking into the crackling fire. "Or one can take it as — Now or never."

Rintaro's mouth gaped. "You mean…"

Petyr chuckled slyly. "Yes, it's even more important than a pack of condoms," he japed.

Kai ignored the Herald of Chaos, his eyes burning deeper into the fire. "Jack Sparrow's Compass!" words came out of his mouth like tongues of fire. "An Item that points to the thing I want the most in this world is exactly what I need right now," he said, a touch of greed in his tone. "A visit to the Pirates of the Caribbean Random World is imminent, I guess."

Rintaro frowned at the notion, though. "Didn't Lab Member 002, Ms. Virgin (-Item-M-), say that one needs a tremendous amount of Luck to even open this Item?"

Kai laughed demonically as he heard that. "Haha! Who said it would be I who would use it?" he intoned, making both Characters' brows jump. "Heh! Why do you think I have been bridging the gap between mine and Darcie's goals so far since my reincarnation, letting her decipher the Book's runes and search for Ancient Magical Script and Herpo the Foul, huh? Have you ever thought of it?

"Of course, it was to connect my and Darcie's desires so that when she was to hold the compass, it would point towards the thing we both want the most in the world. All major storyline Characters possess immeasurable natural luck. Even if I cannot use the Item, Darcie can."

"Reasonable," Petyr nodded. "However, there's a tiny problem, my lord," he said, smiling slyly. "You need at least hundreds of thousands of Mission Credits. Let's not forget that you haven't even checked the Time Divergence between Harry Potter Random World and Verse Fusion Random World. If you were to go back there one day and find that my lady, Shinobu Kocho, has died of old age, now that would be truly a matter of the ugliest shame, wouldn't it?"

Kai stood up, his back straight and proud. His gaze was traversing beyond this realm, reaching unknown destinations. Kai didn't have the greatest of patience, but he had never been indecisive.

"The path to the peak of absolute power is full of sacrifices," he said, talking more to himself than to his Characters, who were gawking at the brilliant glint in his hazel pupils. "And one must always have the right attitude to know when to let go. Rintaro, pen a letter to Item-M."

"Ah! Yes, yes." Rintaro hastily brought a quill over and dipped the tip into the inkpot. "I am ready."

Kai took a deep breath, his face hard, and then he worded out his command for Item-M, his resolve hotter than fire.

The moment he finished, Petyr threw himself off the chair. "My lord! This?! You must not…"

Even Rintaro was having trouble believing what he had just written.

Kai lifted a hand and put an end to the matter. "Let's contact her," he said, taking the letter off Rintaro's hands. "Then you two vanish. I have some new theories related to the Book's runes that I must calculate. Hurry."

Unknown to Kai, in a corner of London, two witches were staring at each other with a profound meaning hidden in their eyes.

"And?" one witch asked.

The second witch answered with only a light motion of her head in response.

It was a nod.

A nod to decide the fate of a little girl.

A nod to decide the fate of an entire world.