Bleach: Reborn — Chapter 53 - Confrontation — Clash

The argument between Atak and Gross grew increasingly heated. Had Gross's temperament been anything like Atak's, the two of them might have first gone to examine the corpse, searched for some clues, and argued after. But Gross was an extremely protective Hollow Beast, and he had no intention of giving Atak any more room to think.

"Gross, looks like you just want to throw down today, is that it?" Atak was not without a temper. After being slandered repeatedly, he was starting to get riled up.

He knew he was a close-combat burst-type Hollow Beast, and that made him the disadvantaged party against an enemy like Gross, who specialized in being disgustingly difficult to deal with. But he still had cards up his sleeve. At the very least, he could stand his ground and confront Gross face-to-face without losing face or the fight.

"Throw down? If you don't give me a proper explanation for what happened today, I'll rip your Hollow Mask right off your face!" Gross was full of pent-up fury. Within his alliance, there were plenty of offensive-type Adjuchas-class Lords, and every one of them had taken their subordinates and rushed to Gatmont's territory to besiege and seize land, leaving only Gross, the defensive Lord, to guard the home front.

As a member of the alliance, he couldn't wantonly hunt resources from his allies' territories. His own territory was hemmed in on all sides by allies and rival Lords, so he couldn't quickly dispatch anyone to Gatmont's lands to hunt.

His allies had promised to bring back his share of the spoils. But would the leftovers others saved for him really be quality resources?

Gross knew full well he would very likely get shortchanged in the end. He was helpless to do anything about it, his abilities were what they were. Left with no choice, he swallowed his resentment and choked it down.

Then, just a few days ago, his subordinates had reported that Atak's followers had clashed with his own people and caused casualties. That time, if not for his subordinates talking him out of it, Gross would very likely have already stepped in.

Now both sides had clashed again, and Gross — who had been bottling all of this up, had no intention of letting it slide. His abilities made him easy to defend and hard to attack, but so what. This time, if he didn't knock out at least one of Atak's front teeth, the matter would not be considered settled.

"In that case — I'll grant your wish!" The gaze beneath Atak's Hollow Mask narrowed. He stomped down hard, and silver-gray Reiatsu shot skyward. Both his hands began to shift, transforming into a pair of massive Ram-Head Hammers.

"No wonder they say Atak is an incomplete assassin," Wayne muttered, watching the transformation from the trees. He shook his head. "All that speed and explosive power, and not a single weapon or technique that can kill in one hit."

If those hammerheads had been a blade, Atak would have been a genuinely terrifying assassin. But paired with his massive frame and blunt weapons poorly suited for finishing strikes, that explosive speed was simply wasted. No matter how overwhelming the burst, a blunt weapon could never compare to a sharp edge. Only a one-sided Reiatsu crush could put an enemy down in one blow.

Talent points allocated wrong, Wayne decided. If Atak's Reiatsu hadn't already reached peak Mid-Class, Wayne probably wouldn't have lost five of his own subordinates to him.

Seeing Atak ramp up his Reiatsu, Gross began building his own. Quickly, with Gross at the center, the surrounding area turned foul and murky. Yellow-green Reiatsu surged upward, corroding the nearby trees into nothing. His subordinates scattered fast, spreading out to avoid being caught in it.

"A Lord-level showdown?" Wayne's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected that a setup he had so casually arranged would trigger a full battle between two Lords. This was a bonus he hadn't counted on. Fight on. Fight to the very end, and let's see if I can reap the spoils of their conflict.

The battle erupted. Inside Gross's Corrosive Domain, the Acid Mist would eat at Atak's body, but his peak Mid-Class Reiatsu bought him time, the yellow-green haze couldn't corrode his Hierro in short order.

BOOM!

Two Sonído, and they crashed together. Gross's lower body was a mass of filthy tentacles, liquid appendages formed from condensed Reiryoku. When Atak's hammers came smashing down, Gross raised them to absorb the impact. The tentacles shattered, but as long as the domain held, he could regenerate them endlessly.

The Acid Mist did the rest. After each offensive push, Atak was forced to pull back out of Gross's domain and burn his own Reiryoku to wash the clinging acid off his body.

"You filthy mongrel — still trying to run?!" Gross wasn't giving him a moment to breathe. When the enemy retreated, he advanced, using Sonído to stay on him.

But he didn't dare charge in recklessly. The domain didn't follow his body, relocating it took time. So Gross kept his Sonído within the domain's range, ensuring he could generate offensive tentacles on demand and keep his defense intact against a sudden counter from Atak.

"Arrogant. A pile of sludge dares to flaunt its might!" Atak knew Gross's limitations. At a distance, with the domain not yet fully reformed, he fired a Cero.

The bright silver beam came screaming in. Gross threw up his tentacles to block, but the Cero was not to be underestimated. It punched through the tentacles and grazed his forehead as it blew past.

The domain shifted him in time. Barely. He avoided taking it to the face, but cold sweat broke out beneath his Hollow Mask.

Atak's ability was simultaneous detonation, speed, strength, and Reiatsu all ignited at once for a short window, massively boosting every attribute at the same time. But that explosive output came with a price. The harder the burst, the worse the crash that followed.

That last Cero had burned roughly twice the normal Reiryoku. For the next minute or so, Atak would be in the Half-Decay Phase. It wouldn't cripple his combat ability entirely, but his Reiatsu would drop from peak Mid-Class down to barely entry-level Mid-Class. Fortunately, it would gradually recover on its own, otherwise a few more exchanges and Atak would have no choice but to run.

As an old veteran of the forest, Gross knew Atak's strengths and his weaknesses both. The moment the Cero grazed past him, he burst out of his domain and swung his tentacles at Atak in a full lash.

CRACK. The ground where Atak had been standing was carved into a deep furrow, not a clean cut, but a trench eaten out by instantaneous corrosion.

Atak was already gone, Sonído carrying him clear the moment Gross appeared. But the distance covered was only about half of what it had been before. The Half-Decay Phase was showing.

After a brief evasion, his Reiatsu began to creep back up. Gross saw it and didn't press the chase. He held position, waited for his domain to take shape again, and settled into defense.

From the intelligence Wayne had gathered, Atak's burst could hit five times his baseline strength at its peak. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but that Reiatsu, comparable to a High-Class peak Adjuchas, was enough to crush most enemies in a single window. Against a swamp like Gross, though, he couldn't afford to pop that trump card recklessly. If Gross used some secret technique to run out the clock, Atak would be left defenseless and could die here. A full-power burst dropped his Reiatsu all the way down to entry-level Adjuchas. That was a death sentence if it went wrong.

Because he understood Atak's vulnerability, Wayne felt no urgency at all. He stayed still, hidden in the trees at a distance, watching the fight with steady eyes. The harder they hit each other, the better his situation became.

The Half-Decay Phase expired. Atak shifted back to offense, and at the same moment Gross's domain finished reforming. Both sides locked into a stalemate once more.

This time Atak didn't repeat his last approach. He unleashed a flood of Balas, the goal was to force out every one of Gross's tentacles in a short time. He himself flew forward to press the attack. Gross answered by summoning sixteen tentacles, lashing them wildly in front of him to bat the Balas aside. The instant Atak closed in, all sixteen converged and slammed shut, pinning those two heavy hammers outside his body.

For a time, neither could gain ground. But both their Reiatsu levels were beginning to bleed. If this kept up, the damage on both sides would settle into a range Wayne could work with, and then he could sit back and reap the spoils.

Of course, if both of them recognized the problem and pulled back, his plan fell apart.

"Atak." Gross's voice cut through the fighting. "Leave behind three Adjuchas as compensation and today's matter is done. How about it?"

After several exchanges, Gross had read the situation. Neither of them could close it out quickly. Let this drag on and the one-on-one would turn into a group battle, and win or lose, his side would take losses he couldn't afford.

"Dream on." Atak's side was already stretched thin on Adjuchas for the push against Yinfeng. Giving up three for nothing was not happening. Even if it meant fighting to the bitter end, he was walking away with a win today. He ignored Gross entirely and fired another Cero.

"Fine!" Gross's shrill voice snapped with sudden fury. "Since you won't take the easy way, don't blame me for what comes next! Boys — get him!"

"Yes!"

The Adjuchas under Gross surged forward in a mass. Beneath his Hollow Mask, the corners of Atak's mouth pulled into a satisfied smile.

"Formation!"

At his order, the Adjuchas behind him stepped up in formation. The war between two territories had officially begun.

Dozens of Adjuchas ignited their Reiatsu at once. The sheer violence of it sent storm winds tearing across the battlefield. Nearby rock formations and trees were ripped into the air and flung away. Even from over a thousand meters out, Wayne felt the churning, frenzied pressure washing over him.

The Gillians within a thousand-meter radius grew restless and frantic, scrambling to flee. Lower-ranked Hollow Beasts fled outward in droves. Some of the weakest were crushed directly into nothing by the Reiatsu storm.

The great battle had begun.

➤ Next: The Snipe and the Clam