Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 42 - Falling Apart

Wayne brought Nel into Jekain's territory inside the Forest of Menos. When the two of them arrived at the territory's resting area, Jekain and his three subordinates were still at the Central Tree and hadn't returned. Only a single low-tier Adjuchas had been left behind to receive Wayne.

Isrut, the one with the sharpest perception, was dead. For the time being, there was no one left in the entire Forest of Menos who could track Wayne down.

Even if other Hollows with strong sensory abilities existed, none of them could step into Isrut's role immediately and fill it completely.

Ability was one thing. Trust was another. In this dangerous stretch, Gatmont couldn't simply hand Isrut's position to someone else on the spot. He barely had time to hunt for the killer, promoting someone overnight was out of the question.

It was several hours before Jekain finally returned with his men.

"My King. I have returned." The moment he saw Wayne, Jekain dropped to one knee. The three subordinates behind him exchanged glances, shared a silent nod, and knelt as well, along with the Adjuchas who had stayed behind.

They understood now. The outsider Hollow standing before them had known their Lord for a long time. More than that, he stood above their Lord entirely.

If any of them had still harbored doubt before Wayne revealed his true strength, watching him put Isrut down with such brutal efficiency had blown that doubt clean away.

Standing before them now were three beings: the leader they had already sworn to, that leader's leader, and that leader's leader's companion.

Three presences whose power far exceeded their own. If it came to a real fight, the four subordinate Hollows would have no way out. Besides, they were loyal to Jekain. The thought of rebellion simply didn't enter into it.

"Mm. How did things go?" Seeing their posture, Wayne allowed himself a small, satisfied smile. Whatever else happened, one of the thirty-six Lords' territories was now firmly in hand.

"Gatmont flew into a rage but cannot find the killer. There is no trace of residual Reiatsu anywhere inside the Central Tree," Jekain said respectfully. "My King, your subordinate truly cannot fathom how you managed it."

"Simple assassination technique, and covering my tracks." Wayne found a nearby tree stump and sat. "My abilities are well-suited for that kind of work. Unless he has another Hollow with exceptional perception somewhere, finding me is going to cost him a great deal of time."

"In the short term, Gatmont has no way to monitor Reiatsu movements across the entire Forest of Menos. That's good news for us." Beneath his Hollow Mask, the corners of Jekain's mouth curved upward.

"My King, what do we do next?"

"Consolidate what we have. Cultivate more Adjuchas-class Menos. And start quietly eating into the core strength of this place." Wayne spoke without any particular hurry.

"Tighten patrols within the territory. Once things have settled for a while, begin pushing into the adjacent territories on either side. Take their resources. If a conflict breaks out at the Adjuchas level, don't engage — pull back, draw them into our territory, then kill them."

"As you command, my King." Jekain dipped his head. "At the same time, I believe we should use this period to step up the mobilization and cultivation of Gillian-class Hollows as well. While we move against Adjuchas in other territories, we can send our own forces in alongside and break them one by one."

"That works. One more thing — compile a summary of each Lord's abilities and get it to me first. After that, we start with the Lords who are unwilling to join us but aren't particularly loyal to the Great Lord either."

"You intend to borrow someone else's blade... Understood. I will have the report ready immediately." Jekain withdrew with his men.

"Lord Wayne, are we taking over this forest?" Nel drifted to his side once the others had gone, tilting her head up at him.

"That's right. This is the first step of our revenge." The gaze behind Wayne's Hollow Mask narrowed slightly, and a faint thread of Reiatsu leaked out without him quite meaning it to.

"Taking over this forest means a reshuffling. The Hollows who get swept aside become our prey. The ones who stay loyal become the force we need when the time for revenge finally comes. Three years — no more than three. Within three years, the entire Forest of Menos belongs to us, and we'll be ready."

"Mm!" Nel nodded eagerly. She knew it would mean killing, and plenty of it, but since advancing to Adjuchas, something in her had shifted, quietly shaped by her time with Wayne. Among Hollows, growing stronger worked exactly like this.

"Let's get moving. We need to build a temporary base here first, along with some basic infrastructure. We also need to plan entry routes for the Gillians coming in from outside the territory, so our own resources don't get poached. There's still a lot to do."

"Hehe, yes, my Lord~"

Just as Wayne had said, consolidating the Forest of Menos meant more than just the Adjuchas. Mapping out resources properly was equally essential.

Every Gillian that entered the Forest of Menos arrived at a different point. Without guidance, concentrating them to produce new Adjuchas was nearly impossible. And some might be like Jekain in his early days, already on the cusp of advancing, yet unknown to anyone.

Left like that, Wayne couldn't effectively control the Adjuchas resources within the territory. Better to build the stronghold properly, give most of the Gillians a path to follow, and funnel them toward designated areas where they could consume and advance.

That way, Wayne could make contact with the self-aware ones while they were still at the Gillian stage. Once they advanced to Adjuchas, keeping them in line would be far easier.

"Building" in practice meant directing the existing Adjuchas to fell trees across the territory, excavate rocky ground, and fill in gaps. Blocking off certain passages would funnel Gillians toward each other more naturally.

Afterward, open clearings would be carved out to give Gillians better conditions for consuming one another and pushing through to the next stage.

The Adjuchas within the territory could use the same process to consume Gillians themselves and raise their own strength faster.

And at the core of Wayne's territory, a real stronghold needed to rise.

Built around the terrain, it had to be something that could hold a siege and launch an offensive, something that surpassed the tree-based layout at the Central Tree.

As luck had it, one of Jekain's subordinate Adjuchas held an ability tied to rock and stone. Combine that power with the timber of the Forest of Menos, and a proper fortress was within reach.

So the rock-type Adjuchas was appointed the territory's civil-engineering Hollow, and construction began.

Meanwhile, across the forest, Isrut's death had pushed Gatmont to the edge of going berserk. He looked at every subordinate and saw a potential killer. His entire upper echelon buckled under the pressure, trust dissolving into quiet suspicion on all sides.

For Wayne, it was a gift.

Once Jekain delivered intelligence on all the Lords and most of the Adjuchas, Wayne began making contact with those already under Gatmont's suspicion. Jekain was the one who showed his face, of course.

During those meetings, Jekain also probed each Lord's true feelings toward Gatmont from the side. Those who could be recruited were noted down. Those who refused were added to a kill list.

Because those Lords had a rift with Gatmont, the Hollows beneath them had little direct contact with him. Using Jekain's abilities as cover, Wayne and Nel could eliminate them cleanly. Wayne would then stage the scene and pin the blame on Lords who were close to Gatmont.

Strike, withdraw, repeat. It didn't matter whether they were Adjuchas who refused to join or Adjuchas allied with Gatmont, both categories started dropping.

The Lords throughout the Forest of Menos began turning their suspicion on each other. Wayne and his group moved into the opening and began pulling forces to their side.

The other Lords, sensing both danger and opportunity, started doing the same. Gatmont's grip on the forest loosened, bit by bit.

Time slipped by.

In just one year, the strength of Gatmont's Core Faction shrank dramatically. The various Lords who had raised their own banners began flexing their muscles, probing each other, launching attacks, each one working to carve out a position.

And the spark that had set all of it off, the one lurking in the shadows from the very beginning, had never once been found.

Not because Wayne's concealment was flawless. Simply because every Adjuchas that had ever laid eyes on him had either knelt or become a meal.

One year. That was all it took. The more than thirty Lords who had once submitted to Great Lord Gatmont, along with all their Adjuchas, were in complete disarray.

By the end of that year, the thirty-six Lords had combined, fractured, and merged into four distinct factions. Together with Gatmont's Core Faction, five powers now coexisted inside the Central Forest.

Civil war was nearly here.

After more than a year of steady work, Wayne had embedded himself completely in this forest.

He now commanded twelve Adjuchas, Nel and Jekain among them. In name, however, his small circle still fell within Gatmont's jurisdiction.

At this stage, the other factions each held somewhere between thirty and forty Adjuchas. If Wayne broke away and declared independence, he would become a target for every side at once.

Beyond the Adjuchas who had advanced within his own territory, Wayne had also secured the submission of the two Lords in the adjacent territories on either side. His odds of taking the entire Central Forest had edged one step closer to reality.

"My King, Gatmont has issued an order to suppress the Reformist Faction. Their Lords have extended an invitation to us again, and this time the tone is considerably more insistent. Should we join?"

Four major factions in open standoff. Wayne's small group, still nominally inside Gatmont's sphere, couldn't avoid being courted, provoked, and occasionally attacked from every direction. None of it troubled Wayne much. After more than a year, he had more than enough strength to protect himself. Head-to-head against any of the major factions was still off the table, but at guerrilla warfare, Wayne had never lost to anyone.

"Not yet." Inside the stronghold, Wayne lounged lazily on his throne. Beside him, Nel was stretched out on a soft grass mat, just waking from a nap.

"The Reformist Faction is already an arrow nocked on the string — there's no pulling it back. The suppression campaign is coming regardless. Joining them now only puts us directly opposite Gatmont."

"However, my King — since half a month ago, Gatmont's newly appointed perception-type Hollow has already sensed your Reiatsu. We are already under suspicion."

"That only adds to his suspicion." Wayne didn't look the least bit troubled. "To this day he still hasn't gathered enough evidence to prove I was the one who killed Isrut, has he?"

"On the surface, I'm a subordinate you took in. Given the current situation, we're nothing more than a loose piece on the board, allegiance unclear, easy to overlook. As long as Gatmont doesn't move directly against us, we still have the chance to sit back and reap the spoils of their conflict.

"Pass the order down. All Adjuchas go to full territorial alert. Every self-aware Gillian is to assist with defense. Hold the designated garrison zones within the territory as our core positions, at the first sign of anything, raise the alarm immediately. For now, minimize contact with outside Lords as much as possible.

"As for the Reformist Faction pushing us to join: if they come in force, decline, and use the pretense of considering their offer to notify the other factions and seek support. Keep the gates shut. If they're overly aggressive or come in small numbers, make an example of them. As for Gatmont's suspicions, we arrange a performance and put his mind at ease."

"Yes!"

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